“Are You Ready For … ”

Of course, Penn State fans of a certain (younger) age expect that opening to be followed by “… Penn State football?”

It’s a loud welcome on gameday in Beaver Stadium before the Nittany Lions take the field, and that bit of encouragement and question has since been replicated at other Penn State sporting events.

For me, it’s an unnecessary “eh” moment, because it was not part of my Penn State football experience for most of the time I was in the stadium and because it’s misplaced in the gameday football rundown, seemingly interrupting the building anticipation toward the real excitement  of the team’s arrival on the field. Instead, some amped-up college kid gets to scream at 100,000 people. 

It’s not a traditional part of gameday. It’s just become something Penn State does — and there’s a difference.

Athletics conducted tryouts for the 2024 “mic person” earlier this week. Potential candidates had to prepare a three-minute pep rally routine for a panel of judges. No word on who won, but I’m guessing someone did. Too bad. 

Inside the stadium later this week will be something else that’s not a tradition but certainly holds a lot more importance than whoever holds that microphone for a few minutes during each home game next fall.

The second concert in stadium history, with headliner Luke Combs, offers an important proof of concept for an athletic department that hopes to find a way to squeeze more revenue out of that historic real estate on the east side of campus. Well, it hopes to squeeze more revenue out of anything and everything, really.

Some other college stadiums host concerts with regularity, but Penn State’s first attempt with Blake Shelton on July 8, 2017, was not a financial windfall. It did not attract a huge crowd, and maybe it was not meant to do that. 

Shelton’s a headliner, known for his TV work, his wife and his country music success with 28 No. 1 songs during a proven career. His name graces bars in Las Vegas and Nashville and, of course, like any country music star, he has an alcohol interest with a vodka brand. 

He’s just not the guy to sell 80,000 tickets on a single night, and that was the case seven years ago.

That was a long time ago, though, before Penn State regularly sold alcohol in the stadium, before it outsourced for so many of its gameday employees, and before athletic department leadership turned over and grew (by a lot).

Heck it was so long ago, seemingly in black-and-pink days, because most football players back then were only getting scholarships, meal points and books for their efforts. Can you imagine? 

Seriously, though, this Saturday is important for Penn State to prove it can support such an event. And Combs coming to town is an event.

His efficient, 30-stop tour last year pulled a gross revenue of $125 million, making it one of the 10 most successful tours of the summer and he’s repeating that model this year. 

It’s a model that takes him across the country, but not on some night-after-night slog. Instead, it’s typically two back-to-back nights in a football stadium — maximizing audience and minimizing movement. His two nights in Milwaukee, a baseball stadium with a capacity of 41,900, attracted more than 86,000 fans April 12-13.

Penn State has a special place in the tour. It’s the only stadium where Combs performs just one night. Plus, Penn State negotiated to make sure Combs would not be performing in Pittsburgh or Philadelphia during this tour, although he was in Buffalo last weekend.

For all the athletic department’s talk about finding different ways to utilize Beaver Stadium and make money, this concert is the only thing that has the potential to make that happen. Sure, the Ironman is nice, and the Special Olympics Paterno Family Beaver Stadium Run helped that charity make a half million dollars a couple weeks ago.

A family film night on the field, other charitable efforts and the upcoming Brewers Fest (May 11) and United Way Over the Edge (Oct. 8) are not money makers, either. They might be community engagement events, but they’re not going to do much for an athletic department that rarely gives anything away.

Just ask the people griping about this weekend’s parking prices. 

Then again, the ticket prices here seem about the same as they’d be in another market, so if you were a country music fan and wanted to invest in driving to another city to see Combs, the whole out-of-pocket cost would probably be more someplace other than Happy Valley

It’s not about the cost for Penn State. It’s about the revenue, and much of that will come Saturday. Beyond parking there’s concessions and beer in the stadium, and with, perhaps, 80,000 country music fans in the same place that can add up quickly.

Still, there might be a little concern about the bottom line for Penn State. The concert has not been announced as a sellout and the athletic department recently offered free tickets and parking to its employees. It’s shaping up to be an important and interesting Saturday in Beaver Stadium.

So, tailgating lots open at noon. Stadium gates open at 5 p.m. Combs, who has 17 No. 1 hits and will play about two-dozen songs, tops a lineup that includes Jordan Davis, Mitchell Tenpenny and Colby Acuff. 

It’ll be a big Saturday in Beaver Stadium. Are you ready?

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