How do we get NTs to take sensory sensitivity seriously?

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You probably aren't, but what about the autistic people (and others) who need the lighting to be bright in order to function? I was one of these people as a child and as a teenager, but my needs were often ignored since everyone else could handle the less bright enviroment. It is extremely likely that if these places were changed to be better for you, it would cause problems for someone else who is sensitive in the opposite way. And that would mean that, while it's better for you, it won't be any more disability friendly than it used to be. With public places, there will always be people who can't handle them and it's impossible to make it work for everyone, so it's better to choose what works for majority. Besides, it's often about business. If the stores and such don't do things the way the majority prefers them then they'll lose customers and, in the worst case, the whole place gets closed and then no one can go anymore.

That said, I have sensory issues too, though aside from my sense of smell and touch, I have them under pretty good control these days.

I think there's a bit of a line here; the enviroment should pay more attention to people with sensory issues, but we shouldn't ask for too much. A hundred people shouldn't be forced to change their habits just for one person, especially if it would cost them extra money or effort. I've noticed that people, especially those who don't understand what sensory issues are, are much more accepting of them if they don't cause them direct trouble or extra work. For examble, when I was little, my half sister complained about mom making separate dishes for me sometimes because of my sensory issues or about mom making certain dishes often 'cause there weren't many that I could eat, but these days that I make the needed separate dishes for myself on my own with the ingredents available, she no longer complains. To her, it's all good as long as it doesn't 'cause trouble or extra work for her or our mom. So, I think that instead of thinking what others could do to make your life easier, the first thing to wonder about should be what you could make easier for yourself without causing extra work for others. Which you already seem to be doing of course, taking along your own food and all.

Still though, while it'd be nice of the world to change according to our needs, it's just not realistic, especially since even among us autistic people there are so many different needs. I think the best thing would be to educate us on how to deal with our sensory issues without losing our ability to function and how to do it without bothering others. I mean it'd be easier for us if the others would be the ones to adabt, but us learning to solve our own problems is a much more realistic goal.

Even if one has a need, the arena's owners/management aren't going to accommodate one person's need if it ruins the experience for orders of magnitude more spectators. If the average spectator requires more lighting than one can personally bear, the management can't reasonably be expected to ruin the experience for most of the people there to accommodate a handful of people.

It sounds like you've worked things out with this organization, but when I read the part of your post quoted above, it occurred to me that those statements could easily be misinterpreted. A lot of people are not precise in their use of language, so if you tell someone that a particular food makes you feel sick, they might think that you simply mean you don't like it, rather than that it can make you vomit. Similarly, if you say that you almost starved, they might think you mean that you had to make do with a narrow variety of foods, rather than that you were made unwell by not having enough calories available. Just a thought that might be useful in the future. Describing your dietary requirements as medical needs, as others suggested, might help cue people that you mean statements like those above literally.