Big Jay and Baby Jay greet new students as they fill the north end of Memorial Stadium for Traditions Night in this file photo from Aug. 18, 2008. A proposed addition on the east side of Memorial Stadium, at left, would produce revenue directed to a 0 million commitment by Kansas Athletics Inc. to academic programs at KU.

One new coach. Eighteen incoming signees. Three thousand new seats still planned by the end of this year.

Such numbers are only the beginning for Kansas University football, which will drive into the 2010 season with new ticket options at Memorial Stadium — even if the $34 million Gridiron Club still awaits clearance, and financing, for construction.

Some stats:

7,000

Number of 2010 season tickets sold by the end of last year, a KU record for the early-sales period.

600

Number of seats in Section 1, which sold out soon after Kansas Athletics Inc. set it aside for people buying season tickets at a lower-than-last-year price of $199. The offering now is expanding into Sections 11 and 16 — each with about 1,800 seats — on the stadium bowl. The move cuts into the sides of the Perkins Restaurant Family Zone, which last year offered four general-admission season tickets — for two adults and two youths — for $450. “We think we’ve made it affordable for people who say, ‘Hey, the G.A. is great, but I’d rather have a reserved seat,'” said Jim Marchiony, associate athletics director.

$350

Price for “Tier One” season tickets, considered the best reserved seats for the seven-game home schedule. That’s an average of $50 per game, equal to last year’s top price of $300 for six games. “Tier Two” season tickets go for $299 ($42.71 average), while “Tier Three” lists for $199 ($28.43 average). Last year’s lowest-price reserved seats went for $225, an average of $37.50 per game.

$45

Price for a KU student season ticket, unchanged from last season.

200

Number of additional seats set aside for student seating this season by shifting some students from the upper portion of Section 21 on the 50-yard line — an area that also had accommodated some single-game reserved seating — to Section 17 off the north end zone, behind KU’s band. “Everybody gets a better game experience: The students get 200 more seats, and the reserved-ticket folks get to sit down and watch the game, so it’s a huge win for everybody,” Marchiony said.

Sept. 4

Date when North Dakota State visits Lawrence to open the 2010 season, Turner Gill’s first as the Jayhawks’ head coach.