This perception with regard to Iowa fans and attendance is interesting, but general assumptions are questionable.
Specifically: The night or day of the week the game is played speaks loudly to attendance. The starting time, mixed with the game day, is an absolutely dominating impact. Drive from out of town on a Tuesday for an 8:00 pm start. Doubtful. Bring your kids to a game like that, Never.
The opponent matters big time, duh. BT games are pretty well attended, but see the statement above as a qualifier.
The oft repeated charge that the big donors are all old people is false. Of course, some are, duh.
The oft repeated charge that the old folks don't cheer is simply false. I can see them very well from my seat. Yup. I am old. And, continually disruptive, rude, loud, and dispute every call that goes against my Hawkeyes.
Say what you will about CHA. The fact is that there are virtually no bad seats in the arena.
Put the students nearer to the floor. Good idea. But, the pep band and the student section is not exactly a weak sister. And, the spirit squads do the game justice. So does Herky, who spends time in the stands posing for pictures with fans, mostly the little tikes. BTW: Wisconsin's Kohl Center has seating that is essentially the same as CHA. And, the students sit in the end zone. And, they sell out the student tickets every season, and very few freshman can even get a seat. So, ?.
I would also suggest that the arena layout, with the concourse at the top is both unique and has the appearance looking down at the seating of a "snake pit." Maybe that was the idea?
Two comments: What is this thing about attendance at one pre-season game becoming the sign post for the season? The sign post for me was seeing our new freshman on the floor for a lot of minutes! That was outstanding. Secondly, I have been a season ticket holder through Alford, LackLuster, and Fran. I sit in row 25, dead center court across from the bench. I rarely miss a game. Every time I read another thread about the horror story that is CHA, I just shake my head, roll my eyes like a middle schooler, and think, "Good grief. These idiots have not been to many, if any, games in CHA.