Constructing an All-22 on the Future of Penn State’s Beaver Stadium (2024)

The future of Beaver Stadium is in the hands of the Penn State Board of Trustees on Tuesday.

The Board will vote on allocating an additional $630 million to renovate the stadium, which was built in 1960 for $1.6 million — in part using steel hauled across campus from New Beaver Field, which was located just northeast of Rec Hall.

It will be a two-step process on Tuesday morning:

At 10 a.m., a special executive session of the Penn State Board of Trustees and Committee on Finance, Business and Capital Planning will be held in private via conference call. The sole item on the agenda: “Proposed Project Approval, Beaver Stadium Renovations, University Park.”

That’s when athletic director Dr. Patrick Kraft and Dr. Sara F. Thorndike, Penn State’s senior vice president for finance & business/treasurer, will lead a presentation of their plans and rationale to renovate Beaver Stadium. On the receiving end will be most, if not all, 38 members of the Board of Trustees, led by Chair Matt Schuyler. Trustee Rob Fenza is head of the finance committee.

Newly-elected BOT members Matt McGloin and Carl Nassib, both celebrated former Nittany Lion football players, will not be taking part in that private session, as their terms officially begin July 1.

Kraft, who began his stint as Penn State’s vice president for Intercollegiate Athletics on July 1, 2022, moves fast. Tuesday will be Day No. 690 on the job.

Following the executive session, at 10:30 a.m., the Committee on Finance, Business and Capital Planning and Board of Trustees will meet in a public session. Details and the livestream link are here.

In anticipation, let’s nail down this offseason All-22 on Beaver Stadium and the plans on the table to renovate the iconic venue, where Penn State has a sterling record of 316-81 (.796):

1. The proposed renovation builds upon the $70 million already allocated by the Board last May, to winterize Beaver Stadium in anticipation of hosting a College Football Playoff game this December and to fund research on whether to build a new stadium or make future improvements and renovations, and to what degree.

2. Spoiler alert: The Board will not be voting on a new stadium. Penn State estimates that would cost $2 billion, while simply repairing “the basics” would cost in the neighborhood of $140-$150 million.

3. The $630 million plan that Penn State’s administration and athletic department are submitting for Board approval will focus on maintenance, infrastructure, adding restrooms, improving human movement in and around the stadium, enhancing the press box and adding dozens of concession stands.

4. The biggie is the construction of over 50 suite and loge boxes, and several thousand club seats —all on the west (press box) side of the stadium, beginning at field level and reaching to the very top of the stadium. This is in addition to the 68 suites currently on the east side of the stadium, which will remain intact.

5. Who is going to sell all those suites and boxes? A company called Elevate, which has the rights to support the ticket-based revenue stream at the stadium, according to the Sports Business Journal. Elevate consults on “ticketing pricing, revenue optimization, experiential packaging strategy” and the fan experience. Elevate’s clients include the ACC, Alabama, Notre Dame, USC, Stanford and Florida.

6. Multiple outside companies are expected to be involved in the project, in addition to Elevate: Populous (architectural design); Nations Group (project manager); OVG (hospitality, food and beverage); and three major construction firms: Barton Malow, AECOM Hunt and Alexander Building Construction.

7. Populous is headed by Scott Radecic, the former Penn State and NFL linebacker, who is senior principal and founder of the firm. According to Populous: “His project experience includes working with 13 NFL teams and more than 50 colleges and universities, including recent projects such as the new 60,000 seat stadium for the Buffalo Bills. Scott led work on Huntington Bank Stadium for the University of Minnesota, the renovations to Bank of America Stadium for the Carolina Panthers and Charlotte FC, and Canvas Stadium for Colorado State University. Scott’s portfolio includes the ADPRO Sports Training Center renovations for the Buffalo Bills, the new Champions Center for the University of Colorado, the Jacksonville Jaguars’ Daily’s Place Amphitheater and Flex Field, HarborCenter Marriott, a hockey training and mixed-use project for Pegula Sports & Entertainment, and future planning for Beaver Stadium at Penn State.”

8. The last major renovation of the stadium was prior to the 2001 season, and also included Radecic, when he was with design firm HOK. Penn State added more than 12,000 seats, which increased stadium capacity to 107,282. That number dropped to its current 106,572 in 2011, to meet the standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

8a. That renovation and those additions cost $100 million ($177 million in today’s dollars) and were funded out of cash flow by the Penn State athletic department, to be paid off in less than 14 years.

9. Beaver Stadium isn’t the only big construction project at Penn State, though it may soon be the biggest. Ever. The BOT will vote on spending the aforementioned $630 million for Beaver Stadium; here’s what Penn State recently got (and is getting) for just about the same amount of money — $609 million:

9a. For comparison’s sake: In 2012, Penn State built the Millennium Science Complex for $225 million. In today’s dollars, that’s $306 million.

10. Beaver Stadium is currently the second largest stadium in the United States and the fourth largest stadium in the world. After the proposed renovations, its ranking is not expected to change. The current Top 10:

11. Three of the Top 6 largest crowds in Beaver Stadium occurred in 2023:

1. 110,889 — Ohio State 27, Penn State 26 (2018)
2. 110,856 — Michigan 24, Penn State 15 (2023)
3. 110,830 — Penn State 31, Iowa 0 (2023)
4. 110,823 — Penn State 42, Michigan 13 (2017)
5. 110,753 — Penn State 40, Nebraska 7 (2002)
6. 110,747 — Penn State 38, West Virginia 15 (2023)

12. The proposed renovation and suite additions would be solely on the west side, with the number of seats on the east, north and south sides not being impacted. After the renovation is complete, it is possible that the official capacity could go down by about 400-500 seats.

13. The tentative timetable: Demolish the west side in two phases after the 2024 and 2025 seasons. Penn State has said seating will not be affected for the 2024 season. However, it is expected that seating on the west side of the stadium will be impacted and reduced in the 2025 and 2026 seasons (see the schedules below; not as big of a deal as you’d think), as construction on the west side will occur after the 2024 and 2025 seasons. If approved, the project is expected to be finished in time for the 2027 season.

14. Penn State’s home football schedule for the 2025 season lists non-conference games against Nevada (Aug. 30), Florida International (Sept. 6) and Villanova (Sept. 13), and Big Ten Conference games (dates to be announced) vs. Indiana, Nebraska, Northwestern and Oregon. There are only two “good” games —Oregon and Nebraska, with Kraft pal, State College townie and former PSU LB Matt Rhule. Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Allen was the head coach at Indiana from 2017-2023.

15. Penn State’s home football schedule for the 2026 season has non-conference games against Marshall (Sept. 5) and Buffalo (Sept. 19), and Big Ten games vs. Minnesota, Purdue, Rutgers, USC and Wisconsin. Only the Trojans and Badgers have don’t-miss panache. The non-con games do have novelty status: Marshall is coached by former Penn State assistant Charles Huff (2014-2017), though he has interviewed elsewhere in the past two years, and Penn State offensive coordinator Kotelnicki was the OC at Buffalo from 2015-2021.

16. It’s kind of hard to believe that any changes will boost the atmosphere inside Beaver Stadium, at least for the big games; if anything, replacing thousands of standard open-air seats filled with average fans with suite seats filled with corporate types would likely lessen fan noise. Last week, Joel Klatt, who is FOX Sports’ lead analyst for college football, put Beaver Stadium No. 2 behind LSU’s Tiger Stadium for “toughest stadium environments in college football” and No. 1 in the Big Ten.

16a. Klatt: “White Out at Penn State is the best environment in the new Big Ten. Every time I talk with anybody who’s going on the road, they always say the same thing. They all agree that Penn State is the toughest environment in the Big Ten.”

17. Board of Trustee member Barry Fenchak says spending $700 million to renovate and add premium seating to Beaver Stadium would create a debt-to-income ratio of 434% — the highest in college sports. Read his full report here; here are a few excerpts:

17a.“As currently proposed, the $700 million Beaver Stadium renovation will be, by far, the largest capital expenditure in our athletics history and one of the largest (if not the largest) athletics capital projects in the history of college athletics. I have researched this proposal at length and done the math. We can’t afford it.”

17b.“If the $700 million project is approved, that debt would jump to $877 million or 434% of annual revenue, surpassing University of California-Berkeley, whose current debt is $439 million (348% of their annual revenue, accrued under their former Athletic Director Sandy Barbour). Penn State Athletics’ debt would not only become the highest in the nation and double Cal’s, it would be the highest in college sports history.”

17c.“Penn State athletics currently has $250 million of debt, which is financed by the University and backed by tuition revenue.”

18. How Penn State pay for the project? A bond, initially guaranteed by the university (and not the athletic department). The suites, loge boxes and club seats will bring in new revenue. So will increased ticket prices and higher seat licenses for the other seats. Naming rights? Possibly. Donations? Some, but the Penn State fundraising till is fighting NIL.

18a. I doubt the Commonwealth and its legislators will give money strictly limited to the stadium — Penn State has had a tough enough time getting state financial support for the rest of the university. (Penn State’s budget in 2023-24 is $9.5 billion; in its latest report to the NCAA, Penn State athletics generated a profit of $126,352 on revenues of $202.2 million.)

19. There are a lot of budget wild cards, and likely Penn State’s numbers allow for those. But, no one in all of college sports — literally — knows what the real numbers will be in the six months, the next year or next 10 years. The “House vs. NCAA” settlement will potentially cost Penn State millions, albeit indirectly from the NCAA and/or the Big Ten. Then there is the issue of compensating its athletes, while balancing Title IX requirements. It is possible that Big Ten schools like Penn State will have a player payroll of $20 to $30 million — whether it comes via labor unions and CBAs or some other form of negotiation or settlement. Ultimately, and soon, the estimated three-quarters of a million dollars per year that a star like Drew Allar makes will be paid by mostly (or all) by the university, as NIL is quickly headed in-house in all forms.

20. The Luke Combs concert in Beaver Stadium last month could be a precursor of more big-time, big-name, big-crowd concerts to come. According to Music Row Weekly, attendance for the concert was 73,339. Combs kept the gate receipts and one news outlet reported that Penn State picked up $1.25-$1.5 million from parking and concessions.

21. Penn State could follow the lead of other universities in holding sporting events in Beaver Stadium. For example:

21a. Wrestling — Carter Starocci, take note: A crowd of 42,287 fans saw Iowa beat Oklahoma State 18-16 in Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City on a sunny Saturday, Nov. 14, 2015. In the “Battle at the Birthplace,” in Rutgers’ High Point Stadium, which kicked off at 11 a.m. in 62-degree weather on Saturday, Nov. 19, 2016, Rutgers beat Princeton 19-16.

21b. Soccer — At Michigan Stadium in 2014, a crowd of 109,318 saw Manchester United defeat Real Madrid, 3-1, in a friendly at the Big House. Four years later, a Man U-Liverpool FC contest drew 101,254 to the same stadium.

21c. NHL Hockey —“The Big Chill at The Big House” on Dec. 11, 2010, set the all-time attendance record for a hockey match when Michigan beat Michigan State, 5-0. Announced attendance was 113,411 and certified attendance was 104,173. Also at Michigan Stadium: The 2014 Winter Classic on Jan, 1, 2014, drew an announced crowd of 105,491 for the NHL Winter Classic between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Detroit Red Wings. At Michigan’s State’s Spartan Stadium in October 2001, Michigan State and Michigan tied 3-3 in “The Cold War,” watched by 74,554.

21d. Women’s Volleyball — A record-breaking 92,003 fans saw the Nebraska women’s volleyball team beat Omaha in Memorial Stadium on Aug. 30, 2023. On the Huskers’ squad that night was Caroline Jurevicius, daughter of former Penn State wide receiver Joe Jurevicius. (In the video above, she is No. 10.) She has since transferred to Penn State.

22. My prediction on the Board’s vote to allot $630 million for the renovation of and the construction of new suites and loge boxes in Beaver Stadium? It passes.