Season football tickets have been renewed at a 99 percent rate for the 2009 season, OU athletic department officials said Wednesday.

The renewal rate is the highest its been in Bob Stoops’ 11 seasons as head coach, and officials said they believed it is the highest in school history.

Ticket office officials said the school’s average renewal rate for season football tickets is around 96 percent, and that percentage has not dropped below 94 percent since Stoops was hired in 1999.

“We don’t have all the figures, but it wouldn’t surprise me if that renewal rate led the nation,” OU athletic director Joe Castiglione said in a statement released by the athletic department. “This rate would be exceptional any year but is especially notable during these challenging economic times. We hope those who contribute to our department and purchase tickets to our events understand how very much we appreciate them, and how vital they are to our continued success. Without the loyal support of so many, this program would be a shadow of the model it is today.”

OU currently sells approximately 69,000 general public season tickets, which are renewable for the following year. The athletic department said it also sells about 8,000 student season tickets annually.

A spokeswoman for the OU ticket office said general public season tickets were priced at $375 this year, and student tickets were $157.

“The love they have for this program is overwhelming, and it means so much to us,” Stoops said about Sooners fans. “From a coaching perspective, it’s rewarding to me to hear our players talk about [the fans]. They can’t wait to tell people what it’s like to play in front of that crowd in Norman, and the personal meaning it has to each one of them is something that’s hard to describe.”

Stoops was rewarded last month for his continued success in Norman when the OU Board of Regents approved his new contract, bringing his annual salary up to $3.675 million.

School officials also announced that a record number of contributors joined the Sooner Club, the principal fund-raising branch of OU Athletics. The club has a total of 10,277 members, and has seen an increase of 715 additional donors last year.