Penn State AD Pat Kraft speaks ahead of the Big Ten Media Days

On Tuesday night, Penn State athletic director Pat Kraft held a small informal press conference ahead of the Penn State football Big Ten Media days to answer initial questions about NIL, scheduling, and more. His perspective is always enjoyable to listen to as you hear his passion for PSU and how successful he wants Penn State athletics to be collectively not just the football team.

Penn State AD Pat Kraft speaks ahead of the Big Ten Media Days

To start the conversation the topic of conference scheduling is discussed with AD Pat Kraft during his interview with the Penn State media. Adding a light joke he stated “James and I laughed well we really are unrivaled” alluding to the 2024 & 2025 conference schedule that the Penn State football team has been given. They will not play Michigan in 2024 and will not play Ohio State in 2025 which is certainly going to be an adjustment for Penn State fans everywhere.

Kraft added “I don’t think it’s right that we’ve been on the road and that will get addressed. I don’t think that’s a fair way of scheduling there was a miscue on that.” One of the challenges Penn State has faced over the years is the fact that they have had 8 straight road games to open conference play. This year the Nittany Lions will open conference play at Illinois on September 16th and Kraft is adamant that needs to be addressed going forward.

The power of the Penn State brand

Later in the interview, he was asked about what were some of the takeaways from last football season to this season.

Pat Kraft shared with the media that the Penn State football team has “almost 94,000 season ticket holders, that’s incredible that’s all about our fans that’s all about them and their passion for this place.” That stat alone just goes to show you how many people are invested in the 2023 season, an exciting time to be a season ticket holder. There is power in numbers and sometimes it’s easy to forget just how many people share the same passion for Penn State athletics as you and I do.

He addressed where PSU was at in terms of NIL during this interview by stating “We have to continue to get better at it, I think we are in a much better spot now, the Happy Valley United crew in coming together it’s a business .. if we are going to be the best we should have the best collective.” It feels like the Penn State staff is pleased with the progress the school has made in terms of NIL and catching up with the other powerhouses throughout the nation and they understand that this is a very different process that will take time for everyone to get on board with.

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