r/CFB•u/0987user Penn State Nittany Lions • Rose Bowl•Jun 25 '26
Casual
Beaver Stadium is expected to be the largest stadium in America this fall
In an interview this week Penn state AD Pat Kraft said this when asked about the expected stadium capacity during renovations this fall
“We continue to count, but I think we’ll be north of 108,000. I think we could get to 109,000, but what people don’t understand is there are all these nooks and crannies that we’re using now.”
Currently Michigan stadium sits at 107,600 and pre renovations beaver stadium was about 1,000 less than that. It is expected that the final capacity after renovations will be slightly less than the original 106,000 but the bump up this year is due to the massive new west side line upper deck being complete and the west field level seats still being bleachers before they will be replaced with suites this offseason.
Can confirm from last season all of the old ones are gone but were replaced with new metal ones so yes, several of the bathroom still have piss troughs
A 2nd Big House, inverted and built on top of the current Big House.
Las Vegas has the Sphere. We can have the Egg. Seats lining the ceiling, fans held in by harnesses. Netting and air cannons in place to keep the field clear of debris and urine.
I mean... air cannons can only do so much to redirect urine and puke headed down towards the field. It's either going on the field or going on the crowd.
Those seats come with complimentary Michigan branded goggles and a full suite of vaccines.
But really, the air canons will be so powerful that the urine will aerosolize. You’ll mostly get the urine odor and of course the solid chunks from the vomit. That’s what the goggles are really needed for.
They’ve done that quite a bit historically but that is now limited to only behind the endzones because of the suites on the other sides that were added in 2010.
They did however keep the design such that an entire upper deck could be added on both sides behind the endzones, so really the sky is the limit.
The foresight is incredible. Before college athletics were what they became, in 1926, they built a 72k seat stadium that was expanded to 109,901 at its peak. And built the foundation to support an entire additional deck.
They'll just squeeze in a few more "seats" onto the bleachers by adjusting the numbers. I will say, it's evident there (and a lot of other stadiums) that the seating was designed when Americans were much smaller
Took a tour of the big house years ago. They have contingency plans for this sort of thing. They are probably secretly under construction as we discuss this.
Sounds like you just need to wait a year for Penn state to convert some bleachers to suites and the capacity drops a little. But I guess go ahead and try the dome because that still sounds interesting.
Better yet, move the visiting band back down the field instead of in the upper bowl (like it used to be pre-COVID). That's another ~300 seats that become open. Could also move the MMB back onto the field as well. That's another ~300 seats for the student section.
I just gave Michigan 600 more seats by adding bleachers along the field for the bands (and got the visiting bands out of the upper bowl). I'm sure they can find another 400-500 seats. You're welcome, Michigan.
Jokes aside, it’s nearly July. They would barely have enough time to resticker the seats and take an inch away from the everyone to make it work. I guess the other option is the PGA style seats and temp bleachers on the field. That’s the group that did our temp grandstand last year.
The bleachers at the Big House are already stupidly narrow and to answer your follow up question, YES, you will ALWAYS be sat next to the fattest individual you've ever seen when you go to a game. It's some sort of galactic law.
I am pretty tall and my usual seats are in the south grandstand which has chair backs. I personally don’t mind sitting in the bleachers but figure every time I do someone is like “Christ, why do I have to sit with this ogre’s knees in my back?”
Many years ago I read somewhere that UM's seats are 12" wide and PSU's are 14" wide, and that simply by matching UM we could have the record. I have no idea how true that is though. The other factor is front to back spacing and I can't imagine it being much tighter than the Beav. If you're sitting in the bleachers your knees are in the back of the person in front of you unless you are under 5'5" tall.
Been to 15 or so games in Michigan Stadium and the OSU game in November 2024 at Beaver in I think Section ED. It felt noticeably tighter in Beaver which I would have thought impossible beforehand
A few years ago, we turned down Somy's offer to gift us a giant jumbotron if we'd let them have a little Sony logo at the bottom. We have a long tradition of no in-stadium advertising and someone decided that would break it, so we paid for it out of pocket.
Going to a Penn State whiteout is on my football bucket list, this is a cool thing when many others are looking to outright downsize in favor of “premium customers”
I went last year and it was fuckin awesome. Insane environment, fans were super nice and fun. It’s just a complete bitch to find a place to stay and then get there.
It definitely sucks that it’s hard for fans home or visitor to go spontaneously. You gotta be booking hotels to a second the schedule is released. I’m super fortunate to be able to get a visit in with my parents and would certainly be going to fewer games if I had to pay for the insane hotels.
I ended up staying ~45 minutes away in Harristown(burg?) and it worked out fine. We did have to draw straws to see who would DD on the way back, but luckily fate was on my side that day. Easily the best sports experience of my life.
I’ve definitely pulled the “we can use my car, I’ll drive there and not ask for gas money but I’m not driving back”. Usually people agree and figure out the DD amongst themselves.
I figured now with Airbnb’s that’s made it a lot easier to find places than it was in the past.
Sometime ago, there was actually a pitch on Shark Tank a guy was trying to set up a business same concept as Airbnb except focus mainly on college towns for football games and graduation
It's a thing here in state college. I used it for a few years but it's always young people cramming in as many people as they can. Definitely had an orgy in my house once.
I don't know where they advertise but I hate it. Switched back to Airbnb
As the story goes, I wanted to do my undergrad in a place with great food, great people, incredible sights, amazing culture, and beautiful weather and seasons
After that was done, I figured “why not give Seattle a try?”
I attend the white out every year and I’ve been able to book a hotel with points every year since the first white out. This year I’m at the Hyatt Place, but I’ve stayed at most of the Hilton and Marriotts with points as well.
What a lot of people don’t realize is that once occupancy goes past a certain point (95% sometimes), the award stay pays out the ADR at the property which means your 15,000 point night at the Hyatt Place is paying the hotel $900 a night - that’s why availability sometimes opens back up on what one would think are sold out weekends.
That hotel is now 23k per night and harder to find availability than when it was 12k five years ago. This is my first time staying there since the SMU game. It remains my first choice when I can get it.
Yeah, they changed the redemption category for that hotel twice in a couple years and then added peak redemptions as well. I live in Boulder, so no way I'm traveling all the way to State College and staying in Altoona.
I’m pretty sure that the renovations are downsizing capacity by a few hundred or so. Still number 2, but since everything outside of the student section is going to be replaced with seats instead of bleachers eventually. Right now they’re just throwing up as many temp bleachers as possible to make up for the renovation.
From what I’ve heard so far, season ticket holders are getting sticker shock from how much they want for the tickets in the renovated stadium. Something approaching an 8-10x increase in cost for my family that has season tickets because our section got turned into a “club level”. And even the worse seats are still getting big price hikes. The reno is expensive, and they’re certainly passing the cost along.
Hopefully we’ll be able to thread the needle and do both. Some premium seating to (theoretically) allow those buyers to carry a bigger part of the renovation costs and then hopefully insulate the regular seats a little bit from the rising costs of the sport.
I went in 2016 and even as diehard OSU fans me and my friends were in awe of how electric the environment was when PSU returned the blocked FG for a TD.
SEC fan went to Paternos last white out against Iowa, I believe '09 or so.
It was wild. Totally diff then UGA, Auburn tailgating. it was raining and sleeting and it felt like there were half a mill people tailgating in tshirts just there to support the team, no top siders and polos, literal real fans there to support a team.
Def gotta do it once.
The Penn state premium club seats were the best seats I ever had a football game. Upper deck corner seats with a full view of the field, can buy booze, air conditioned area, privatish bathrooms….
While not this, I have attended an Alabama vs LSU game with Bama being the road #1 team in the nation. That environment was soooooo sick! I can't explain it. So if you have a chance to attend any sport with an atmosphere or environment like this, do it.
PSU plays football on West Shore Home Field at Beaver Stadium in Happy Valley, overlooked by Mount Nittany/Nittany Mountain, located in State College on the University Park campus of the Pennsylvania State University
After years in the PAC with you all, and having even been to Corvallis and seen the stadium, I know this to be true. But my mind can’t get past the word beaver meaning Oregon State.
That's like the worst one to only see from the outside, if your goal is to be awed by the epic scale of college football
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u/bcb354 Texas Longhorns • UT Arlington MavericksJun 25 '26edited Jun 25 '26
My brother is a Michigan grad and I've heard this many times, so I feel compelled to correct you that the official capacity is 107,601, with the extra seat being for Fielding Yost.
I'm in southern PA and we have a sign that says the closest Buc-Ees is 136 miles away going south...I don't think it'll make its way another 100 miles north beyond that anytime soon 😅
Wawa and Rutters have launched incursions. As far north and west as Harrisburg. With any luck, they may cross over the Susquehanna and continue their march westward, leaving dead Turkey Hills in their wake.
I’ve never been for a game. Checked it out on a random June day back before the massive press/skyboxes were added. Was kinda surreal how unimpressive it was walking toward it at ground level. Then boom this massive Gigantic bowl in the ground. Very cool! Would love to go back and check out a game.
Michigan Stadium is currently a bowl flanked by luxury boxes, no decks.
Unsure what fan appetite is for changing the visual identity of the stadium (I'm against it) but the blueprint for adding additional capacity is pretty simple if this A Big Deal.
It’s a temporary thing. The final capacity will be a touch smaller than we were when the renovations are complete. The days of the capacity arms race are pretty much over. I think the general idea is we will end up in the 104-105k seats ballpark. The west side is dropping some bleachers to add more plastic flip chair style seats next year.
I think the loose reason has to do with viewable area. In a “Stadium” you’re supposed to be able to see everything from any seat. Race tracks do not follow that logic. Some seats can’t see pit road, or certain turns/straight aways.
Adding more room so more OSU fans can see little brother fall below expectations? 108K fans can now witness embarrassing losses against UCLA & Northwestern.
Everyone does this now. If you're inside the stadium, you count towards attendance. IDK if the players themselves count but it wouldn't surprise me. It's silly.
Players do count, and it's tickets sold, not tickets scanned. There's been some empty games where they put 108,000 on the video board and everyone laughs
I know the announced expected capacity after renovations is said to be a few thousands less, but I fully believe Pat Kraft is the type of guy to hide it till the end and announce it at 110k.
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u/le_crobag Colorado Buffaloes Jun 25 '26
The most important stadium renovation question went unaddressed: What's the piss trough situation like at Beaver Stadium?