If we sign players in the 800k-2million range there is no guarantee we will be winning championships. Others teams do it but that is no guarantee of success. There is no magic formula in MLS to always have consistently winning team. If you look in Europe, the teams that spend the most are the ones consistently on top. MLS has strict parity rules that prevent that from happening.
No one can predict the future, so we don't know for sure if spending less will have a big impact on attendance. Mexican league ratings are 10 times higher than MLS. EPL ratings are 5 times higher than MLS. Soccer is clearly popular in the USA. Diehard fans like us will come out regardless. However, I am convinced the other fans will more likely come out to see David Villa and Frank Lampard over Diego Valeri and Pedro Morales.
The teams doing well attendance wise are mainly the newer teams. I am concerned that less spending will result in attendance similar to Chicago, in the 15k range rather than 19k. We don't know for sure, especially with other factors to consider like increased spending on marketing and sales staff.