BYU without sports programs and any hint of college pride and atmosphere wouldn't get my kids to leave the east coast and the plethora of great schools and LDS Institutes here. BYU will always be a wonderful place but without sports it will be a wonderful place to visit and not call home.
And many of these same "fans" suggesting that you don't understand are the same ones who stand in the halls of our church buildings suggesting that sports are the root of all evil because their kids get cut from their HS teams and "those evil athletes spend too much time focusing on sports when they should be doing scouting and preparing for missions".
The others are those who would crap their collective pants if BYU did away with intramural sports because they provide the platform for their kids to relive the glory days of youth sports.