there were empty seats in the northwest corner and the southwest and southeast corners of the endzone. It certainly totaled a couple of thousand at least and people there are crowding each other since they're not students. I didn't notice any empty seats in the student section. We were sitting in the south endzone for both games (recruit tickets) and had a clear view of the northwest corner as well as of course the south endzone where we were sitting.
So you're splitting hairs here, yes selling the seats is the most important thing but actually having people sitting in the seats is important as well. No one wants to see visible empty seats and that factors into any decision on how many to add. I have no doubt that Utah will easily sell this small addition they are making and that they will mostly be filled every game but they have done all of the studies I am sure to give them the right number of added seats to be both sold and filled. I am sure they know there is a limit to that number.
Also it shows that the 15,000 people waiting for tickets number is not real.