[DaKCMan AP]

A&M football tickets sell out for first time since 1990s.

A&M sells out of football season tickets

By MATTHEW WATKINS
matthew.watkins@theeagle.com

Texas A&M fans proved Monday that they will fit right in with the football-crazy Southeastern Conference.

The Aggie football team has sold out of season tickets for the 2012 season, according to the 12th Man Foundation's website. The sellout likely means the Aggies will fill Kyle Field with season ticket holders for the first time since the stadium was expanded in the late 1990s.

Monday's sale, which closed in less than an hour, was for people who didn't previously have season tickets. Those who had tickets last year will still have the option to renew their seats. If they don't, more seats could become available for sale to 12th Man Foundation members in July, the nonprofit organization that handles Aggie tickets said on its website.

In the meantime, fans seeking new tickets must join a waiting list or pay a premium in the secondary ticket market. Prices on Stubhub, A&M's official secondary market, ranged from $875 to $8,749 on Monday.

Specific details on how many tickets were sold weren't available Monday. 12th Man Foundation President Miles Marks said in an email that officials are still finalizing details and will release them soon.

A&M officials largely attributed the increased demand for tickets to the Aggies joining the SEC. Aggie fans have expressed increased interest in home games against teams like Florida, Arkansas and LSU. The team will also allot about 6,000 seats for visiting teams compared to 3,850 when A&M was in the Big 12.

Last year, the 12th Man Foundation's ticket offices became flooded with requests as the Aggies publicly flirted with joining the conference. That, coupled with high preseason expectations, caused the Aggies to break its all-time attendance record in 2011.

Prior to that, the Aggies struggled to consistently fill the stadium. The school averaged about 15,000 to 18,000 in unsold season tickets each year before 2011. The remaining tickets were made available for single-game sales, often at a discount. Nonconference games frequently featured empty seats in the top corners of the 83,002-capacity stadium.

Now, the university is considering expanding.

Jason Cook, vice president for marketing and communications for the university and a member of a committee reviewing Kyle Field expansion, said A&M will present options to fans and the Bryan-College Station community in "late summer or early fall." Construction won't begin until at least 2013.

"Since the discussions began with the SEC, the fan interest has increased substantially to where we are not only looking at renovation but also how we can expand the stadium to accommodate the increased interest from our fans and the increase in SEC fans that will be coming to Kyle Field each fall," Cook said.

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