re: Have wealthier whites been abandoning college football for a while now?

I'd say it's the opposite. Compare college football fans vs. NFL fans and it's night vs. day.... Very white collar (college) vs. blue collar crowd (NFL) who attend the games.

For LSU at least, I feel like the crowd has continuously gotten more elite and it's where you socially go to be seen in the state, but the atmosphere has taken somewhat of a hit as a result.

Most fans who can afford to attend the games in person are very different than the sidewalk fans though. Bama is the perfect example of this.