Quote: bramleyrhino "How are TV viewers less tangible? They're the single biggest revenue source for most of our professional clubs.'"
Lies, damn lies and statistics. Bums on seats (or feet on terraces) you can actually see.
Ultimately though, even for TV viewers, if less people attend matches, it reduces the atmosphere of the game and the enjoyment of watching it especially for neutrals and those without a specific allegiance. Away fans play a part in this.
As for the atmosphere not being important, Leeds always have their band playing. If crowd atmosphere wasn't important to the overall feeling you get in a live match, they wouldn't bother. You may not comment on it afterwards, but you notice when its not there.
I have nothing against Toronto or Toulouse getting promoted (just not at our expense obviously). If they get there then it might add a new dimension to SL but expansionism isn't the magic bullet to fix the game's financial situation. Money is (obviously) and getting bigger crowds, generating more interest locally and word of mouth about how good it is, is all part of that solution. You can't force people to like the sport because it's now global, you encourage people to like it if they like what they see in person and on the TV and an atmosphere in the live games is all important to that aim.