“They’ll have the opportunity to select their new seats in May,” Sumrall said. “Once they renewed, and our renewal process is over, they’ll be first in line.”

Sumrall said the school has looked at the idea of widening the seats for several years. This offseason, they decided, “Why not?”

He said there is an emphasis on keeping “everybody in their neighborhoods” and that many of the affected ticket holders should be able to choose a new seat near their old one.

“Let’s keep everybody together as much as we can,” he said. “That was our No. 1 goal ... try to disrupt as few people as possible, and I think we did that.”

The venue hosted a record 60,218 in November 2013 to watch OSU defeat Baylor.

It has hosted seven crowds of more than 59,000 in the past four seasons, including 59,584 for homecoming this past year.

That record, and those top crowds in OSU history, will stand for the foreseeable future. The new capacity of the stadium is 56,790, a reduction of 3,418 seats.

There is no structural change involved with the move, just a cosmetic change that will take place before the Cowboys open the season Sept. 2 against Tulsa.