Beaver Stadium's student section will undergo a facelift next year, with additional student seats, a new way of alerting students about ticket sales and a Blue Band relocation all in the works for the 2007 gridiron campaign.
The student section will have 520 more seats next season, increasing its size to 21,220, including the Blue Band. Climbing student enrollment and increased demand for tickets last year were contributing factors in the addition, said Greg Myford, associate athletic director for marketing and communications.
"While we wish that we could always accommodate the entire demand, we're not going to be able to do that," Myford said. "We're making any changes that we can to accommodate that demand."
Most of the new seats will extend past the team tunnel and toward the west corner of the end zone, surrounding the tunnel with Nittany Lions fans. Student seating will be expanded to include the odd and even-numbered seats of rows one through 18 of section SF and the odd-numbered seats of rows one through 18 of section SG.
Penn State's Director of Branding and Communications Guido D'Elia said there are currently no plans to renumber seats to squeeze more patrons into the stadium.
To create more student seats, a number of public season ticket holders had to be relocated. Myford said some of the ticket holders were angry about the move, but most were accommodating.
Besides adding additional seats, the university will also enact a new system of alerting students about the student season ticket sale because some may have been "caught off guard" in last year's scramble to buy tickets, Myford said.
All students who will be enrolled with more than 12 credits next semester (including incoming freshman) will receive two e-mail reminders during the weeks of April 30 and May 21, as well as the traditional letter about the sale.
The e-mails and letter will contain instructions about buying tickets and the date and time of the sale date, which will be in early June.
"We'll send out the letter the week of May 21st so there's plenty of time to make sure everyone receives the letters," Myford said. "We want to make sure we communicate with the student body prior to them leaving campus and then just after them returning home so they're fully prepared to take part in buying tickets."
In addition, the Blue Band will be relocated from its perch above the tunnel into the middle of the student section, in the southeast corner of the stadium.
The Blue Band will be located in the even-numbered side of section SB
and will take up about 30 rows, starting from the railing. Student seating will replace the old Blue Band section.
Moving the band will help it to be heard better by the entire stadium because it won't have to play into the wind, D'Elia said. He also said the new location of the band will make it more integral to the student section and allow it to be seen on national television.
"We're talking about a band that opened a Marc Jacobs runway show for fall collection," D'Elia said. "They're such a weapon for us on game day ... and they're also such an entertainment factor."
The upcoming Blue and White game will be the first time the band can be seen in its new location.
Myford said the athletic department is pleased to enact the changes.
"I think any Penn State student who has participated in a Penn State home football game recognizes that experience," Myford said. "The fact that we're able to expand that to more students is only a plus for everyone involved."
