Also, if one recognizes that the situation is caused by finances then boycotting one's normal support of the program/team only prolongs the problem doesn't it? Note well, I am not at all talking about offering to make extra "buyout" donations to the program. I just mean buying tickets and going to games, cheering on the student-athletes, etc. Increasing the operating costs by boycotting as a fan has never made sense to me.
If you do enjoy the sport, and love the team (meaning the name on the uniform) then it is simply a fun way to spend a few hours even if the coach sucks and you expect the team to lose. I loved every chance I had as a kid to go watch the Braves play even though I expected them to lose (80's here). Just because I loved the game, and had favorite players to root for.
Clearly casual fans would dry up and not go to the games so the finances will move downward anyway. But it seems to me like "fanatic" fans would be able to compartmentalize, and just enjoy the experience and turn off the emotional aspect and have fun even with lowered expectations. Kind of like what Mets fans have to do almost every year they have existed. And yet they still get a decent enough turnout (so they can blow money on bad free agents and contracts) and are very knowledgeable fans at the same time. Now, there is an extreme the other direction as I am convinced that the reason the Cubs perennially suck is that they sell out every game no matter how many they lose. There has never been any real incentive for the owners of the team to care about results.
But maybe I am thinking about the experience of going to see a Tech game if you have kids, who will be indelibly marked by the experience win or lose. Or maybe as I got older I see the possibility of compartmentalizing the emotions of being a fan (well except for the Tech-UGA football game, that is always just brutal).