Due to high ticket sales and expected attendance, 3,500 seats will be added to Ford Stadium for the A&M and TCU games this season. (Sidney Hollingsworth/The Daily Campus)

The 2012-13 SMU football season is gearing up to be the largest yet.

With ticket sales through the roof, the SMU Athletic Department has been forced to make some major adjustments.

For the upcoming home games against Texas A&M and TCU, SMU will be adding 3,500 new seats to accommodate the additional ticket sales.

Season ticket sales are at their highest since 1985, showing a 35 percent increase since last year alone.

Construction will begin Sept. 9, after the home opener against Stephen F. Austin, and will last through Thursday, Sept. 13.
SMU has contracted American Grandstands, Inc. for the job, a company who has previously worked with Dallas Raceway and Texas A&M International.

The additional seats will be divided into four new sections, 22 row deep, which will be installed on the flat areas on both sides of the video board.

The grassy hill will remain open despite the new additions.

A similar situation was presented during the most recent Super Bowl at Cowboys Stadium in 2011, where 13,000 temporary seats were installed at the venue to accommodate increased ticket sales.

As a result, 1,250 were displaced during the event after several sections of temporary seating were deemed unsafe before the game.

The SMU Athletics department has taken the necessary precautions to make sure this situation will not be repeated at Ford Stadium.

“We have received the approval from University Park fire marshal and chief building official and have required stamped drawings from a third-party engineer to ensure that the construction is sound,” Brad Sutton, the Associate Athletic Director for SMU, said.

The stamped drawings are certifications that the construction will not collapse or fail under the stress of full capacity.

Tbe increased crowd brings concerns about parking and traffic on game day.

“We will be providing more police officers and signage to assist with the ingress and egress of campus. Fans can even buy parking passes online and reserve a spot,” Sutton said.

“As always, the easiest way to access the stadium is to ride the DART rail and either walk or catch one of our shuttle buses from Mockingbird Station to the stadium.”

Sutton said that ticket sales have been “brisk” and “we believe Mustangs fans will be out in force.”