{"id":874711,"date":"2026-10-08T04:00:22","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T04:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/874711\/"},"modified":"2026-10-08T04:00:22","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T04:00:22","slug":"penn-state-football-whats-behind-the-empty-seats-at-beaver-stadium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/874711\/","title":{"rendered":"Penn State football: What’s behind the empty seats at Beaver Stadium"},"content":{"rendered":"

Powerful TV images of a White Out game sold Julian Smith on the entire Penn State experience at age 17. Now, all these years later, the junior from Seattle will finally experience his first one as USC ventures into a bleached-out Beaver Stadium this Saturday evening.<\/a><\/p>\n

The only remaining question is whether it can possibly live up to Smith\u2019s sky-high expectations. Will reality be worth his long wait, including striking out in Penn State\u2019s lottery for student season tickets as a freshman and sophomore?<\/p>\n

As he played Spikeball with friends amid the carnival atmosphere of Nittanyville recently, Smith was confident his first White Out would be everything he\u2019d imagined as a high school student watching from across the country.<\/p>\n

But Penn State\u2019s signature game arrives after back-to-back losses by Coach Matt Campbell\u2019s team<\/a>. In the wake of these early-season stumbles, the entire Beaver Stadium experience is being questioned and criticized, even among once-diehard fans.<\/p>\n

Smith\u2019s enthusiasm remained undimmed, but he might be the exception.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m like, \u2018Oh, that is the atmosphere of a lifetime,\u2019\u201d he recalled thinking after watching, from 2,800 miles away, the electricity of 100,000-plus white-clad fans roaring with Lions loyalty.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd so I wanted to go to Penn State,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

But is a White Out still a White Out?<\/p>\n

Losses to Wisconsin at home and Northwestern on the road \u2014 along with a raging debate over ticket policies and prices in a revamped Beaver Stadium \u2014 have sparked concerns that this quintessential Penn State experience could be fading.<\/p>\n

\"PennLots of empty seats in the new upper bowl on the west side of Beaver Stadium during the second quarter against Wisconsin on Sept. 26, 2026.
\nJoe Hermitt | jhermitt@pennlive.comJoe Hermitt | jhermitt@pennlive.comEmpty seats, rising prices<\/p>\n

Swaths of empty seats were visible throughout the newly expanded Beaver Stadium during the Sept. 26 homecoming loss to Wisconsin. The jarring optics touched off a fresh round of debate among some fans who argue attending Penn State football games has become increasingly unaffordable and antiseptic.<\/p>\n

For Saturday night\u2019s matchup against USC, Penn State moneyline<\/a> is sitting at -114 on ProphetX<\/a>. Also, make sure to visit our guide to the best prediction markets<\/a> to help you determine which platform to use.<\/p>\n

The complaints extend far beyond what\u2019s happened with the team\u2019s two successive Big Ten blunders. <\/p>\n

Disgruntled fans are decrying rising ticket costs, steep university donations tied to seat locations, higher parking rates and the atmosphere-altering renovations from a $700 million Beaver Stadium makeover that\u2019s heavy on premium seating.<\/p>\n

Scott Paterno, son of legendary Penn State coach Joe Paterno, is among the most vocal critics on social media.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a LOT of people angry about the ticket and parking changes and 2027 pricing,\u201d Paterno posted on X after the Wisconsin debacle. \u201cThat is something PSU might want to revisit because that situation is driving attitudes toward the team that are unwarranted.\u201d<\/p>\n

Greg Kincaid, Penn State\u2019s assistant athletic director for communications, said the ongoing Beaver Stadium construction during this \u201ctransition year\u201d was to blame for some of the empty seats.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile construction is in progress, Beaver Stadium temporarily has more seats than it has had in recent seasons or will have when the project is complete, so a typical crowd can look different in the bowl,\u201d Kincaid wrote in response to a series of PennLive questions late Tuesday. <\/p>\n

\u201cTurnout this fall has been in line with recent seasons,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

For his part, Paterno declined PennLive\u2019s request for an interview, preferring that his social media posts and the responses they provoked stand on their own.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnything I said on X is fair game, but please remember the context \u2014 I am just encouraging people who are upset to talk to the people in charge rather than ranting on X,\u201d Paterno replied.<\/p>\n

One of those \u201crants\u201d was from a fan posting under the name \u2018SCLion.\u2019 The fan bemoaned the skyrocketing season ticket costs he\u2019s been forced to shell out.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur tickets went from $6K to $20K, plus $10K donation,\u201d SCLion wrote. \u201cHuge increases are pricing most people out of the market.\u201d<\/p>\n

One result was the empty seats for Wisconsin. But a bigger consequence could be diluting the atmosphere that made Beaver Stadium a football epicenter for decades, the poster warned.<\/p>\n

\u201cCorporate donors will buy up the tickets, but it will be a very different atmosphere,\u201d SCLion wrote.<\/p>\n

Kincaid responded that Penn State \u201ckept ticket prices essentially flat for several seasons while the project was planned and built. The biggest changes for 2027 come with new premium club areas, which are entirely new experiences. Those options help us avoid putting the full cost of the project on every seat.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for long-time ticket holders whose seats were affected by those high-priced new club areas, Kincaid said they were offered \u201cthe first chance to choose new seats elsewhere in the stadium\u201d if they din\u2019t want to ante up.<\/p>\n

But some Nittany Lion loyalists posted online that they were contemplating abandoning their season plans altogether.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll most likely be turning in season tickets and buying 3-4 single-game tickets,\u201d another fan posted on the viral thread spawned by Paterno\u2019s post.<\/p>\n

Above all, Kincaid assured the Beaver Stadium experience was not only being safeguarded, but enhanced, by the ongoing project.<\/p>\n

\u201cPreserving the traditions and atmosphere that make Beaver Stadium unique has been a priority throughout,\u201d he said. \u201cA change of this scale isn\u2019t always easy, and we\u2019ll keep listening to our fans.\u201d<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not just diehards who\u2019ve been attending Penn State games for decades who are disillusioned.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s university students who consider Nittany Lions football part and parcel of their college experience.<\/p>\n

\"PennThe Penn State student section cheers during the second quarter on Sept. 26, 2026. Joe Hermitt | jhermitt@pennlive.comJoe Hermitt | jhermitt@pennlive.comLottery for 21,000 tickets<\/p>\n

Their gripes center on a university-wide lottery system for student season tickets. It was instituted three seasons ago in the name of fairness. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe lottery is designed to give every eligible student an equal chance at season tickets,\u201d Kincaid told PennLive.<\/p>\n

But some students say it renders the commitment of die-hard fans meaningless.<\/p>\n

Prior to the lottery system, student season tickets were sold on a first-come basis on sites like Ticketmaster. The most fervent student fans would juggle multiple computers to access the queue and score tickets. Of course, there were complaints then, too, as the available tickets sold out in minutes.<\/p>\n

Now, it\u2019s just a numbers game. The university-wide lottery is open to an estimated 86,000 students across all PSU campuses vying for about 21,000 student season tickets each year. What\u2019s not known, and what the university doesn\u2019t reveal, is how many eligible students enter the lottery each season.<\/p>\n

Without knowing this, it\u2019s impossible to calculate the odds.<\/p>\n

\"PennPenn State fans cheer on their team as the Nittany Lions shut out Marshall, 45-0 on Sept. 5, 2026. Joe Hermitt | jhermitt@pennlive.comJoe Hermitt | jhermitt@pennlive.com<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t release request totals, but demand has exceeded the allotment every year, and we work to accommodate as many students as possible in one of the largest student sections in the country,\u201d Kincaid responded.<\/p>\n

Based on the experience of Julian Smith, who finally won the lottery in his junior year, the odds could be one in three. While he\u2019s ecstatic to be attending his first White Out game, he\u2019s already worried whether he\u2019ll score tickets for his senior year. <\/p>\n

\u201cI know a few people who are seniors that didn\u2019t get the tickets,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n

Lottery losers often face the painful prospect of paying through the nose to attend hot-ticket games like Saturday night\u2019s USC clash.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re a diehard fan and you want to go to a White Out game, it gets up to $500 for minimum ticket. And it\u2019s like, okay, what are we doing here?\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n

Secondary market\"NittanyvilleStudents camp out in Nittanyville outside of Beaver Stadium in preparation to be the first in line on game day. September 24, 2026. Zach Gleiter | Special to PennLiveZach Gleiter | Special To PennLive<\/p>\n

On a crisp autumn evening in Nittanyville, students tossed footballs, played Spikeball and gathered around televisions playing Madden football video games. Others cuddled under blankets in camp chairs, their snug sleeping bags awaiting inside nearby tents that populated this pigskin town.<\/p>\n

On the surface, it seemed like autumn as it ever was in Happy Valley.<\/p>\n

But as a PennLive reporter conducted spot interviews, one topic dominated conversation.<\/p>\n

Money.<\/p>\n

After losing the lottery, Emily, an advertising sophomore, entered the secondary market.<\/p>\n

She found a season-ticket package for $600 after seeing packages listed for as much as $2,000.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was planning on getting White Out tickets anyway,\u201d she said. \u201cI figured it was gonna be like $700 just for one game.\u201d<\/p>\n

She made the deal, paying more than double the price for student season tickets, which have a face value of $246.<\/p>\n

Virtually all of the students PennLive interviewed said they personally know students with little interest in football who took part in the lottery anyway. A few sold their student season ticket packages at face value to friends. This works out to a very reasonable $35 per game.<\/p>\n

Olivia, a senior in speech pathology, was among those who benefited from a benevolent friend who isn\u2019t a football fan.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy roommate applied and she\u2019s just been transferring her tickets to me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Other students enter the lottery looking to strike it rich. Instead of benefiting a friend, they look to make bank on big-money games like the USC White Out. This way, they turn a $35 ticket into $450 or more, students said.<\/p>\n

Many such deals occur through social media platforms such as Facebook and Snapchat, despite Penn State\u2019s official resale marketplace, the students added. Unfortunately, some of these back channels are rife with fraud, they said.<\/p>\n

At least one student said she was swindled by this process when a seller on Facebook insisted on a digital down payment but never sent the tickets.<\/p>\n

\"NittanyvilleStudents camp out in Nittanyville outside of Beaver Stadium in preparation to be the first in line on game day. September 24, 2026. Zach Gleiter | Special to PennLiveZach Gleiter | Special To PennLive<\/p>\n

\u201cMy freshman year, I looked on Facebook and I thought I was being real careful. Apparently I was not,\u201d the student said.<\/p>\n

Others cited Snapchat as brimming with student ticket sellers and some unorthodox offers. One proposed making an East Halls dorm swap part of the season ticket deal.<\/p>\n

Kincaid encouraged students to use \u201cthe official student resale marketplace via Ticketmaster.\u201d He said it\u2019s available \u201cexclusively to registered Penn State students for verified, secure transactions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moreover, Kincaid added, \u201cPenn State Athletics actively monitors ticket resale activity. Tickets may not be purchased for the primary purpose of resale and ticket holders may have their tickets revoked or canceled if they violate ticket terms and conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Savvy students said they often use social media instead of Ticketmaster for fairer, fee-free deals. To avoid fraud, they insist on meeting ticket sellers in person, ensuring the digital ticket transfers and payments occur as promised. <\/p>\n

But they\u2019d rather have a better system for student tickets in the first place.<\/p>\n

Price Plunge <\/p>\n

Everything changed in wake of the Lions\u2019 crushing 34-13 loss to Northwestern last Friday. Like air and enthusiasm draining out of Beaver Stadium, a once-hot market for tickets to the USC White Out game turned ice cold overnight.<\/p>\n

\"PennPenn State head coach Matt Campbell and defensive coordinator D\u2019Anton Lynn leave the field following the 34-13 loss to Northwestern on Oct. 2, 2026. Joe Hermitt | jhermitt@pennlive.comJoe Hermitt | jhermitt@pennlive.com<\/p>\n

On re-sale sites like SeatGeek, StubHub and Vivid Seats, get-in prices to the game plunged by an average of 60 to 70 percent, bottoming out around $90-$100, fees included, for upper deck level seats, according to reports by both PennLive and Sports Illustrated. <\/p>\n

The secondary market for student tickets also weakened. But these coveted seats remained more expensive. <\/p>\n

SeatStock showed the lowest-priced student White Out ticket at $249, with additional listings around $250 – $280. The Average completed-sale price on the site stood at $327, with 81 tickets sold. Another 95 remained available as of Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The price plunge is reminiscent of one of the biggest downfalls in Penn State football history.<\/p>\n

Then-coach James Franklin\u2019s abrupt Oct. 12, 2025, firing resulted in a fire sale for tickets to remaining home games.<\/p>\n

Julian Smith, the Seattle fan shut out of student tickets to Beaver Stadium his first two years, saw his chance.<\/p>\n

He scored student-section seats and witnessed one of the most thrilling games of the year \u2014 the Lions\u2019 last-second loss to eventual national champion Indiana.<\/p>\n

All for a mere $20.<\/p>\n

Even the ticket gods can be benevolent sometimes.<\/p>\n

But Coach Campbell has to hope <\/a>Penn State\u2019s thorny ticketing issues among both longtime fans and fresh-faced students aren\u2019t settled in a similar manner this season.<\/p>\n

Kincaid vowed this week\u2019s White Out would be as passionate as it ever was. The constant isn\u2019t the stadium, or even the team. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s the fans.<\/p>\n

\u201cNights like the White Out are built by the people in the seats, and that isn\u2019t changing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Still, students frustrated by the current lottery system are proposing some changes of their own.<\/p>\n

Who gets the Penn State experience?<\/p>\n

Sierra, who experienced both the old queue system and the current lottery, said she preferred the earlier approach.<\/p>\n

\"PennPenn State fans cheer on their team as the Nittany Lions shut out Marshall, 45-0 on Sept. 5, 2026. Joe Hermitt | jhermitt@pennlive.comJoe Hermitt | jhermitt@pennlive.com<\/p>\n

\u201cAt least I felt like I had a more fighting chance, whereas the lottery is just complete odds,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

It comes down to the luck of the draw. Loyalty is left out of the equation.<\/p>\n

To improve the current lottery system, Sierra proposed a tracking system to cut down on resale abuse.<\/p>\n

\u201cI personally think that there should be a tracker of people who sell their tickets. I know someone who got them just to sell them. And it\u2019s frustrating because there are people who actually care and want to go,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Isabella, an international politics sophomore, wants the university to reward loyalty, not luck.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe people that go to more games \u2014 softball games, women\u2019s soccer and stuff \u2014 I think that they should have a priority,\u201d she said. \u201cI think that they should have a priority because they show that they are interested in more than just football.\u201d<\/p>\n

They all want a better way to get more student tickets into the hands of true fans.<\/p>\n

Kincaid said the university shares this goal and regularly reviews the system and seeks out student feedback.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re always exploring ways to improve it, and we talk often with our student section leadership groups,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

One coming change will recognize and reward students who support Penn State teams beyond football through what Kincaid called \u201cthe next evolution of the newly-launched Penn State Rewards program.\u201d<\/p>\n

This could be the best chance for keeping Penn State White Out games as bright as ever.<\/p>\n

If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement<\/a> and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and\/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Powerful TV images of a White Out game sold Julian Smith on the entire Penn State experience at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":874712,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[399,398,396,397,99],"class_list":["post-874711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ncaa-football","tag-football","tag-ncaa","tag-ncaa-football","tag-ncaafootball","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/874711","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=874711"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/874711\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/874712"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=874711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=874711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=874711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}