Releasing tickets is not an all or nothing proposition.
Imagine this... One has four season tickets. Two of those tickets were purchased for use by a son and grandson. However circumstances cause their family moves cross country. In this scenaro, one can release two tickets and keep two tickets.
Releasing tickets early gives the university more time to sell the season ticket to a party on the waitlist when compared to simply not paying an invoice at the due date.
Early release reduces the time to complete other ticketing activities like additional BJC tickets, NLC pre-sales and public sales, including for standing room only tickets.