Missouri Western is doing what it can to alleviate long lines and parking bottlenecks when it hosts what is expected to be the biggest crowd of the football season on Saturday.

Assistant athletic director Brett Esely said the ticket office will be open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. through Friday, with fans able to purchase by phone at (816) 271-4481 or (816) 271-5904 using Visa, Mastercard or Discover. Esely said the university is experiencing a high volume of calls, so he is encouraging fans to be patient.

Fans can also visit room 229 of the Looney Complex to purchase tickets.

“That’s probably the quickest way to get tickets if you can’t get in on the phone,” Esely said.

Athletic director Dave Williams also encouraged fans to pick up tickets before game day to cut down on expected long lines.

“Anybody who can pick up tickets (ahead of game day) at Looney Complex is going to save themselves a line at the actual game,” said Williams, who added that an additional entrance at the northeast corner of the stadium (north of the Baker Fitness Center) will be opened and a will call tent will be set up near Baker Center (near the base of the hill that leads up to the stadium’s main entrance).

While reserved seats are already sold out, it doesn’t appear that fans will have difficulty in getting in the gates. On the visitors (north) side, the 500-seat bleacher system is being replaced by 2,178 bleacher-style seats that should be ready by this weekend.

“The bleachers will be usable, but not finished,” Williams said, adding that long-term plans call for some aesthetic improvements that will match the north side seating with the south side seating. The north side of the stadium will be refurbished after next season with $1.8 million raised through student fees. That funding will be augmented by revenue from new suites that will be constructed.

Plenty of standing room will be available for the game, even if the crowd exceeds the seating capacity of the stadium.

Parking, however, is another matter. The university has 3,300 available parking spots for Saturday, and Esely encouraged fans to carpool whenever possible.