If you win, they will come.

SIUC announced an all-time season ticket sales high for the football team’s 2006 home schedule, last week. With 2,094 tickets sold, this season’s sales eclipsed last year’s record-setting total by 50 tickets.

Season ticket sales will continue through at least the second home game on SIU’s schedule, a Sept. 30 date with Indiana State.

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“With five home games left on the schedule, it’s really a bargain to go ahead and buy a season ticket,” Mike Trude, SIU’s promotions and marketing director said. “If you look at what individual tickets cost, it saves money.”

An adult season tickets costs $70. Faculty, staff and alumni tickets cost $65. In comparison, a prime seat ticket located on McAndrew Stadium’s west side costs $17.

Besides bargain pricing, Brad Pietz, SIU’s ticket mangager for Saluki athletics and university events, said the reason for the increase in sales was simple.

“Two words – Coach Kill,” Pietz said. “Everybody loves a winner and we had not had one in 20 years. Since Coach Kill got here, it’s gone up every season.”

When Jerry Kill, SIU’s head football coach, arrived on campus in 2001, the Salukis had not managed a winning record since a 7-4 campaign in 1991. The result of prolonged losing was evident in empty seats throughout McAndrew Stadium.

SIU once averaged five-figure attendance for games throughout the 1970s and 1980s. McAndrew Stadium’s single-game attendance record occurred when 17,150 fans attended a Sept., 1980 game

Average attendance for Saluki games dipped to an all-time low of 5,640 in 1997.

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Season ticket sales also suffered. Sales for Kill’s first season in Carbondale were less than 600 tickets.

It took Kill and his coaching staff two years before posting their first winning season at SIU, a 10-2 mark in 2003. Including the Salukis’ 49-0 win to open their 2006 home season on Aug. 31, Kill’s record stands at 35-26 with the team.

While Pietz and Trude both named Kill as the main reason for the increased sales, Trude said he believed an appealing slate of games also aided in earning record sales.

“We know we have a good product and we have a challenging home schedule with Northern Iowa, Western Kentucky and Western Illinois all coming to McAndrew Stadium,” Trude said.