OPINION: Should Penn State football reduce the student section capacity?

Editor’s note: This is an opinion piece and reflects the thoughts and opinions of the author.

Penn State football escaped with a 33-24 win over Indiana on Saturday. However, the play on the field wasn’t the only topic discussed by Nittany Lions fans on social media. There was some criticism of the lack of attendance by the Penn State student section in Beaver Stadium on Saturday as well.

As the university moves forward with plans to renovate Beaver Stadium, is it time to consider reducing the ticket sales for the Penn State student section?

Poor showing by Penn State student section vs Indiana

Penn State is known for having one of the largest and loudest student sections in all of college football. The university allocates 21,000 season tickets of the 106,572-seat stadium for the student section, taking up the entire lower level south endzone and then some.

However this weekend we saw something that has become a trend in recent years: the students don’t show up for smaller games.

There seems to be a sense of entitlement among the Penn State student body that makes them think that the only games that matter each season are the big games. Penn State hasn’t played for a national title in three decades, yet students can’t be bothered to show up for a game that isn’t either the White Out or Michigan or Ohio State. This results in a partially full south endzone for five out of the seven home games each season.

Crowd today, especially students, looks quite awful

— Jaret Gold (@JaretGold) October 28, 2023

It is more disappointing when you compare how reliable student attendance has been in the past despite Penn State teams that would be unranked and out of title contention early in the season.

Saturday was a perfect day for football

I wouldn’t expect people to stick around for a blowout game against an inferior opponent. I also understand the difficulty of getting out of bed for a noon kickoff, especially during Halloween weekend.

That said, the weather was just about perfect on Saturday. Outside of a few short rain showers, the sun was out for parts of the day and high reached the 70s. Not something you would expect for a game at the end of October.

Yet the student section was only maybe 30% full within five minutes until kickoff. At its fullest point, there were just enough people to fill the lower level, with the upper sections of both EA and WA remaining empty in the middle of the 2^nd quarter.

Penn State 17
Indiana 14
Halftime

What are your thoughts on the 1st half? #WeAre pic.twitter.com/Cc2jHrH5pv

— Basic Blues Nation (@BasicBlues) October 28, 2023

Then, add in the fact that Penn State only led 17-14 at the half and a large portion of students left Beaver Stadium. Leaving early is something that happens at every game. People want to beat the traffic, get back out to the tailgates, or have plans post-game they want to get a head start on. The difference is most of the people in the rest of the stadium stuck around because it was just a three-point game.

Is it time to reduce student section capacity?

Out of a seven-game schedule, the student section usually is only full for about two of those games. The section is usually only filled for the first game of the season, the White Out, and Michigan or Ohio State game, unless it’s a noon kickoff.

It is time for Penn State to decide to reduce student seating.

There are a few different ways to approach this. The first is to eliminate sections EAU and WAU from the student section and sell those as season tickets like the rest of the stadium. Typically these two sections are the ones that are empty most often and are pretty glaring on TV. Selling these to the general population would make the university more money because it would be getting double the revenue per seat compared to the price of student tickets.

There is another option that currently takes a little more creativity, but could work. That is to sell the EAU and WAU sections as single-game tickets for each game. For big games like West Virginia, Iowa, and Michigan this season, you can choose to make the sections an extended part of the student section like the current setup. In smaller games like Delaware, UMass, Indiana, and Rutgers, you can sell those as single tickets.

This allows for more fans to find their way into Beaver Stadium while keeping the loud environment that Penn State is known for in the big games. Students who were unable to purchase season tickets over the summer will also have an opportunity to attend the bigger games, as there will be a sale a few weeks before the event.

Could a change lead to better atmospheres in Beaver Stadium?

Students are going to be louder than the rest of the stadium, but having a bunch of empty seats over regular Penn State football fans who want to go to a game isn’t the answer. A change to the way that Penn State operates its student ticketing would create a better home atmosphere for every game in Beaver Stadium.

I’m sure nothing will change in the immediate future, but since when is making more money, having higher attendance, and curating a better atmosphere a bad thing?

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