Sounds like he did some dam good 'management' to find ways to generate fan interest and donor and other public support for the athletics there. That IS his job!
Enticing donors to give by showing them what they get for the big money he is asking for is quite logical, reasonable and good management.
Attendance figures are not important to budget concerns UNLESS one is trying to project into the future one's ability to sell tickets in the future based on recent history of fan attendance. Weather, team success, scheduling, etc all way into actual attendance levels on a game by game basis. Long term, you have to have a product that will sell. That means winning and offering something fans want to spend hard earned money to see. NU has been fortunate to be able to keep selling as many tickets as they have. Attendance is difficult to measure at any stadium reliably as entrants come in late, leave early, exit and return, etc. Media, guests, family, etc. They KNOW how many tickets they collected money for but can't be as accurate on the numbers at games for a variety of logistical reasons. For example, one can get great attendance by making admission free for everybody. But if you're trying to sell premium seats or membership in donor clubs, etc., when there is little or no interest as your program is small, with an outdated and non-competitive stadium etc., you better do some 'fishing' for big fish with some attractive bait.
If attendance is regularly well below tickets sold, then you already have some basic 'donation' built in to the regular / cheap seat prices. Sounds like some sour grapes by faculty and administration who have the problem of managing the department going forward and likely don't have the Bill Moos 'salesmanship' capabilities.
