Season ticket sales are at an all-time high at Iowa State. So why will Saturday’s home game against Iowa likely draw the smallest crowd since the series resumed in 1977?

Because for the first time, Iowa State is offering tickets to the Iowa game only as part of a season ticket package. Nonetheless, state officials expect a near-capacity crowd of over 45,000 when the Cyclones host the Hawkeyes.

Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard was the driving force behind the school’s decision to restrict single-game ticket sales to the game to boost season ticket sales; the bread and butter of Iowa State’s athletic department.

The Cyclones have the smallest budget in the Big 12. Senior associate athletic director Steve Malchow says that increasing the season ticket base for football is crucial for the athletic department’s overall health.

The plan has worked so far. Season ticket sales have topped 36,000 in coach Gene Chizik’s first season.

“It’s the No. 1 internally generated revenue source,” Malchow said. “Football season ticket sales are our No. 1 commodity.”

Iowa State allotted 4,000 tickets to Iowa, at $90 a pop. Despite the steep price, they sold out quickly.

“We live in a free-market economy. You decide what you want to do with the dollars in your pocket,” said Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz. “Sounds like it’s a hefty price. I guess all of us would probably think about it before we do it.”

Iowa State’s smallest crowd for a home game against Iowa came in 1995. The Cyclones, coming off a 0-10-1 season, drew 49,714. Iowa State drew a stadium-record crowd of 56,795 – which included hillside seating behind both end zones – last weekend against fellow rival Northern Iowa.