Well USF does have discretion over if, when and how many free/cheap tickets to distribute so it’s completely under their control, is it not?
Btw it was pretty Orwellian of you to describe lack of demand for a product as a “luxury”. Usually “luxury” is what you have when demand for your product has been met and you have the ability to take liberties. Backfilling paying fans, with non paying seat fillers is the opposite of a luxury, it’s a necessity. But to a POV where the fans, not the leadership, are the problem, I can see how you would make that mistake.