Bands who make money from touring probably at some point in their career have had record company support and at a time when people were buying records. This created the established fan base who are still attending gigs. These days with no record company support, particularly in marketing the band, establishing a large enough fan base to make money from tours will become much tougher.
Tour support is even worse. Bands who provide tour support for a main act playing to 300 -400 people per night usually get paid £50 per show. From that they have cover the costs of van hire, fuel, some hotels and the odd parking ticket. Half the venues don't even feed you. Carling Academy's are the worst. Corporate feckers.