Stanford football is already reaping the benefits of arguably its best season in history. The Peninsula Press reported yesterday that early sales of season tickets are up 206 percent from last year.

As of mid-February, the Stanford ticket office had sold 1,400 new season tickets for the 2011 season. Last year, it took until June for Stanford to sell just 458 new plans.

Stanford finished its 2010 season 12-1 and ranked No. 4 in the nation. The Cardinal defeated Virginia Tech, 40-12, in the Orange Bowl to close out its historic year. Although head coach Jim Harbaugh left the Farm for the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers, star quarterback Andrew Luck is returning to school for his redshirt-junior season. He will likely enter the 2011 season as the Heisman Trophy favorite.

In addition to last season’s success, Stanford football has a marquee home schedule next season featuring Cal, Oregon and Notre Dame. Stanford also amped up marketing because of last year’s play.

The Cardinal’s fan presence ranked ninth in the Pac-10 last season, with about 40,000 spectators per game.