There was an expected decline for the Patriots after Tom Brady left the team in 2020, especially with whoever wound up as the next quarterback, and the Patriots' quick demise turned out to be worse than anticipated.
That led to fans checking out of their fandom, for good reason or exhibiting fair-weather behavior, and that was incredibly apparent during home games over the last five years. For a team that has been sold out of season tickets since Robert Kraft bought the team in the mid-90s, it was a shocking sight to see little to no support for the Patriots during home games.