A transaction has a cost and a benefit. I think it is the combination of lower benefit (product quality) and higher cost that in combination have reduced ticket sales.
As you note, the product quality has suffered over the past few seasons. The cost has gone up steeply over the past 10 years.
I mean, if you had a favorite restaurant and the quality suffered a bit, you might still go out of habit and familiarity, etc. But if quality went down AND prices doubled? Nope!