John Caple was a Husky football season-ticket holder for 31 years.

Since 1978, Caple has been through the good and bad of UW football, watching the team struggle through the ’80s, win consistently in the ’90s and fall off a cliff in recent years.

But after losing his job earlier this year, depending on unemployment and struggling to find new work, Caple decided not to renew his seats in the southwest end of Husky Stadium.

Selling season tickets right after the Huskies posted the worst record in school history and in an uncertain economy in which many fans are trying to save money could be a problem for the UW athletic department this year.

“The job is probably the most important thing, but it’s not the only thing,” Caple said. “It’s pretty expensive to watch a crappy team play a game you know they’re going to lose — not even lose, but just be flat out uncompetitive.”

However, officials say they’re optimistic about sales for 2009.

The UW has sold 37,616 season tickets to non-students as of Monday, roughly 12 percent fewer than this year’s goal and last year’s total of 43,509, said David Gravenkemper, assistant athletic director for ticket sales and customer service.

“I think at this point, we’d be happy to get there when the season starts,” Gravenkemper said. “But I don’t know if that’s realistic at this point.”

UW athletic director Scott Woodward said that the downturn in the economy, coupled with a 0-12 record, has affected season-ticket sales, but he still hopes to get to about 90 percent of last year’s sales.

This will still put the numbers significantly lower than years past. Season-tickets sales for non-students have been steadily declining since the beginning of the decade, dropping by more than 20,000 since 2003.

While student season-ticket sales have steadily increased over the same time period, they have only increased by a little more than 1,400, a fraction of the decline in overall sales. More Dawg Pack and student-reserved seating is being added this year in an effort to boost sales.

Gravenkemper is hoping that these additions, coupled with the hiring of new head football coach Steve Sarkisian and a schedule that includes big teams like LSU, Oregon, USC and Washington State, will help increase attendance at Husky Stadium in 2009.

Gravenkemper added that the athletic department is still pushing season-ticket sales online — a season-ticket advertisement greets every visitor on gohuskies.com. The department is also trying to work with customers who might be having trouble paying for tickets by setting up payment plans.

“We’re being more aggressive than in the past,” Gravenkemper said. “We know the position we’re in. Given the economy, [we have] more options. We have to keep our operation running as efficient as possible, but we’re working with people, trying to make it work.”

According to athletic department figures, general season-ticket sales fell from 59,878 in 2003, two seasons removed from a Rose Bowl win, to 43,516 in 2007, after the team had already begun its spiral into the cellar of the Pac-10.

Caple, who will spend his first season in 31 years without season tickets, is just one of many who jumped ship, and until the team starts winning again and he finds a new job, he will not renew his Husky football tickets, especially if the UW doesn’t give him priority like it did before he decided to not renew.

“If it looks like the excitement is returning and I do find another job, and the university was willing to work with me to get me back my seniority, I would strongly consider renewing for next year,” Caple said. “If they’re going to make me start all over again, forget it.”

Reach reporter Allen Wagner at news@dailyuw.com.