Excellent post. The tailgating scene has been curtailed and between construction of new buildings and the donation levels necessary to get into any reasonably decent lot, the scene has changed dramatically.
The cops have changed a lot, too. One of my best friends made a horrible decision to drive drunk on his 21st birthday. A cop pulled him over as soon as he left a parking garage without his lights on, saw it was his 21st birthday, didn't breathalyze him, had a stern talk with him and made him park his car. That was 20 years ago. You do that now, you're toast. But my buddy realized the bullet he dodged and never did it again.
Also an excellent post. The cops HAVE changed a lot. And yes, the "East Bank" HAS made much about "athletic endeavors", especially since the 1990s.
In the 1980s, cops were much more willing to give "warnings", both to athletes AND non-athletes. They also were around to "serve and protect" and "protect and serve". A Friday night before a big game didn't see tons of arrests. The cops were there to keep things orderly, and mainly as observers.
In the 1990s we saw the "East Bank" crowd start to crow about funding. Some insinuated that athletics, as a function of budget, paled in comparison to the "overall", such as grants, subsidies, etc. What they failed to mention is that many of them were recipients of those grants and subsidies, and were being "paid in advance" for their work. They weren't even required to be "successful" to any degree, just do the research, or implement the program. Athletics--i.e., the football program--was self-funding, and in fact, funded many of the women's programs. Like it or not, the women's basketball, gymnastics or field hockey could NOT, on its own, swing West coast trips, extended hotel stays and tournament trips without funding from other sources. In this case, the football program.
Now we have the football-is-dangerous-and-should-be-banned crowd, as well. We have the ground surrounding Kinnick being swallowed up for medical school/hospital/etc. facilities and, as you mentioned, Joe Fan has little chance of attending a game and parking/tailgating within any reasonable distance. We have those who want to pay the players, while others want football to be a cash cow for "diversity" and "righting wrongs". We have pseudo-patriots who insist on national anthem protocol, while their counterparts march outside to make sure Roe v. Wade isn't overturned.
In short, if I had Bezos-level funds, I too would be selling streaming to fans. WTH is the point for someone in Florida planning a big trip to Kinnick just to stay in Moline, park in Coralville and get busted for doing a post-game celebratory shot on a "public" sidewalk, when instead he/she can go to Lucky's Market, fill a couple growlers, grill in the backyard and watch the game four times over the course of the weekend, complete with working wi-fi, air conditioning, and nobody crowding your seat on the couch?