Considering the factors mentioned above who could blame them? Well, disgracefully some portions of the press could and did, along with rival supporters who gleefully scoffed and called them out for disloyalty on social media.
Sky themselves could barely hide their disgust at the empty seats which really is the height of hypocritical sadism and akin to offering someone a warm chocolate fudge cake then making snidey comments as they enjoy it. “Look at you eating that. You disgust us. You know you’re going to get fat right?”
If Sky (and/or other broadcastors) have such a problem with empty seats them maybe all PL season ticket holders should be offered free Sky Sports and BT Sport for a twelve month period. It might encourage fans to go to games in the knowledge they can watch all the other live games too.
No, it will never happen.
And if they're unhappy with gates now, just wait until 8pm games on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays become a regular occurrence (Virgin are reportedly claiming that at 41% there are not enough PL games on live TV). When that happens I expect many ST holders nationwide to pick and choose games or pack it in altogether.