Why Penn State Is Making Changes to Its Gameday Experience

You either make changes because you want to or you have to. 

Right now, Penn State is making changes because it wants to. And chances are you’re not going to like all of them or any of them. 

But these changes aren’t about you. These changes are about making sure that Penn State’s gameday experiences can continue to flourish and grow just as they’ve done for the last 13 or so decades. 

This is a time of unforced change, a time when you make changes because you want to keep things energized, preventing them from growing stale – even if some initial feedback is against them. 

The writing has been on the wall ever since Pat Kraft set foot on campus. He addressed the Beaver Stadium situation on day one. He also rehired Guido D’Elia, the founding father of the Penn State White Out, to consult once again on the stadium experience. And the gameday presentation felt different following last year’s win over Minnesota. 

It appears Kraft wasn’t stopping there. Last week, Blue White Illustrated reported that he made up his mind on a complete renovation to the west side of the stadium as well as expanded concourses and even a new press box. That plan will be presented at an early May Board of Trustees meeting.  

Then this week, Cory Giger reported that Dean DeVore, the longtime PA announcer inside the stadium, will not return the position in 2023. There had been some rumors in the latter half of the season a change at that position could be coming. It was even something that DeVore had hinted could be happening in an Instagram post prior to last year’s senior day game. Regardless of when or how it was made, this is one of the more direct signals that your gameday in-arena experience is being stirred up.

While disappointing news for some, for others, this news was a welcomed announcement. And chances are, if you are more on the casual spectrum of fandom, you’re not going to know that DeVore was the PA announcer. 

But come Saturdays this fall, you will notice – even briefly – it sounds a little different inside Beaver Stadium. 

And come Saturdays in a few years, you’re going to sit in your stadium seat, not on a bleacher, on the western sideline, eating your food you picked up from the Sheetz concession stand or whatever chain it will be.

All the while, you’ll still be just as passionate as you are now. It’s just now the things that make you passionate wil be enhanced by those unforced changes.

For Penn State fans, these changes both matter and they won’t. They matter now because it’s the natural reaction to change. But eventually, you’ll get used to eating Sheetz MTOs inside Beaver Stadium. Eventually you’ll probably gripe about the next PA announcer. That’s just what you do. 

But sometimes, your senses need a shake up just to make sure that you’re paying attention. That’s the job of people like Kraft. If Penn State doesn’t improve its stadium or re-energize its in-stadium experience, it will grow old. It will grow stale. And that’s why you make these changes now. Not because you have to but because you want to. 

In the college sports world and in a world where there’s more of a fight for your entertainment dollar, athletic departments do need to make these changes to stay relevant and re-engage fanbases, even if that dollar doesn’t stretch as far as it used to and even if you don’t agree with those changes. 

Most of all, they need to make these changes to keep the thriving Penn State gameday experience alive. By no means was it dead. But let’s face it, we all knew some things needed a jump start. You can only hear “make some noise” so many times before you get sick of it. And eventually you get tired of eating the same solid soft pretzels. (However, if they get rid of chicken baskets, I will riot.)

Making changes to the Beaver Stadium experience is only going to make things better – even if you complain about them now.

And let’s be honest here, a lot of you are going to complain. In fact, Penn Staters handle change about as well as finding out their relatives are getting married the weekend of the White Out. I’m probably going to complain about some of them along the way too but is it really going to stop you or I from showing up?

Will your anger now toward concession stands, bigger concourses and maybe even smaller capacity at Beaver Stadium stop you from being in your seat come kickoff? Absolutely not. 

Matter of fact is that Penn State could play on Mars and you and I would still probably find a way to be there.

You’re going to show up because you’re addicted to this. You and I have been doing this for decades and it’s not going to stop just because Beaver Stadium has a different announcer or has a different look. 

In fact, the point of an unforced change is to have the opposite effect. It will make going to games all that more exciting because of your comfortable seat or great food beside the Beaver Stadium chicken basket. Unforced changes are made because the goal is to help things grow. 

It doesn’t mean you can’t complain about them. It just means that you need to recognize this is part of the deal now. And in a way, these unforce changes have always been a part of the deal. 

For my generation, this will be the first set of core changes inside Beaver Stadium that we experience – minus upgraded scoreboards. Sure, we were alive when the stadium added its southern upper deck, but back then, I was more concerned about what flavor of Creamery ice cream my mom was buying me after the game. 

Now that I keep an eye on my bank account – or even have one – I’m still going to be spending my hard earned money on Penn State football. Those changes that blocked the precious view of Mount Nittany didn’t stop my mom from spending her hard earned money on Penn State football. Change didn’t stop your parents or grandparents back when Penn State moved the stadium from its northwestern location on campus to its present day location. 

In fact, all of those unforced changes helped make Saturdays in State College what they are. 

You make unforced changes to insure that things don’t grow tired. You make them because you want new experiences to unfold in Happy Valley. People like Kraft make them because they wouldn’t be doing their job properly if they didn’t. 

The songs may start changing thanks to D’Elia and co., and the in-game announcements will more than likely have a bigger sound. Even Beaver Stadium might have two decks on the western sideline. But I assure you that no one is going to touch the White Out or the drum major doing the flip or the Nittany Lion rubbing his ears. Those are traditions. Those won’t change. 

The beauty of unforced change is that they help build traditions. Penn State’s home field advantage would not be what it is today if it wasn’t for stadium expansion. The Michigan Mo Bamba timeout would have never happened if new songs weren’t pumped into the speakers. Unforced changed help keep them alive. Without changes, you give yourself an opportunity for those bigger moments. 

Sitting idle or waiting until it’s too late to make a change won’t allow for that to happen. So you may gripe about the changes now but it’s only going to make Saturdays that much better.  

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