So basically, it's worth quite a bit, because two days after the game, no one outside those in attendance will remember how full the stands are. For reference purposes, they will always go back to the official published attendance figure.
And if you think I'm mistaken, think back to the Fiesta Bowl. Less than 3,000 "suckers (in my opinion)" purchased the over-inflated, 2nd-mortgage-inducing travel package through UConn (at the height of the Great Repression). Yet Optically, UConn was clearly represented by more than 3,000 fans. Regardless of the optics, most every outside reporter reverts to the 3,000 tickets purchased from UConn's allotment or the 14,000 that they had to return, because of the Big East's policy on the unused portion.