Beaver Stadium Renovation Survey

LBUfanatic

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Nov 1, 2021
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Couple things:

Setting aside, for the moment, the wisdom-ee-ness of spending $700 million to renovate 1/2 of a 60 year old stadium:

There is 0.0% chance (not even the Dumb and Dumber "So you're telling me there's a chance" chance) that any marginal net revenues realized by the renovation, to include more "premium" options, could pay the bill for such a renovation.

Even the stadium-consultant-and-design groups - who make their living convincing athletic programs to take on such ventures - couldn't come close to being able to present any such projections. Even if they stretched the projections like a blob of silly putty.
That is not even close.
FWIW, even at Texas A&M - where they redid the entire 100,000+ stadium, for 2/3 of the price of the PSU proposal, and pushed in "premium" until the place threw up - the marginal revenues there wouldn't come close to being self-funding. One can look it up.

Those are just the cold facts.
And how much of the student section will they sacrifice?? It’s already expensive enough for students… I’m starting to sour on all of this. I’m also about maxed out trying to attend a game or 2 a year when we go visit our child up there.
They aren’t sacrificing any of the student section. If you read up on the concepts for the renovation plan you would see that there is little or no intention to touch the south end zone. I suggest we all wait to see what the final plan looks like instead of jumping to conclusions. And, please, whatever you do don’t get frightened by the naysayers on this board who readily admit that they have no financial skin in the game (not even attending a single game) but feel they need to be the smartest people in the room by throwing stones at all things PSU.
 

Nitt1300

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And how much of the student section will they sacrifice?? It’s already expensive enough for students… I’m starting to sour on all of this. I’m also about maxed out trying to attend a game or 2 a year when we go visit our child up there.
This ceased being all about- or even somewhat about- the students long ago.
 

rudedude

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Oct 6, 2021
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This reno project is still a few years off. It will be interesting going forward how this all plays out with new teams coming in and how this impacts the product on the field and fans response/willingness to pony up more $$$ to attend games.
 
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GrimReaper

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The old adage in surveys is that people say one thing and do another!
Why is this being done now? Didn't Kraft say he had something like 19 (the number varies, but it's more than one) studies? And wasn't Ms. Excellence doing something with regard to the project in her final years?
 

GrimReaper

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Oct 12, 2021
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This reno project is still a few years off. It will be interesting going forward how this all plays out with new teams coming in and how this impacts the product on the field and fans response/willingness to pony up more $$$ to attend games.
Not as far off as you think. Read that some construction, primarily aimed at "winterizing" is to begin in June 2024, with the major project to commence soon after the next football season.
 
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GrimReaper

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Oct 12, 2021
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They aren’t sacrificing any of the student section. If you read up on the concepts for the renovation plan you would see that there is little or no intention to touch the south end zone. I suggest we all wait to see what the final plan looks like instead of jumping to conclusions. And, please, whatever you do don’t get frightened by the naysayers on this board who readily admit that they have no financial skin in the game (not even attending a single game) but feel they need to be the smartest people in the room by throwing stones at all things PSU.
So you're talking about Board of Trustee member Barry Fenchak? Oh, your comment was aimed at me. Careful when you cast a wide net because you often don't know what you'll catch.
 

step.eng69

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Oct 12, 2021
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After they finish the renovation, there will no longer be any cheap seats.
Is it really a matter of "greed" or a matter of "need" to pay the bills?

Penn State Fans Cry Foul Over Football Donation “Money Grab”​

Dave Clark, 3 years ago

Season ticket holders for Penn State University’s football program got a double-whammy last week. Not only did the school announce it would not be allowing fans in the stands for 2020 due to the coronavirus, but it is keeping donation money that is required as a part of the season ticket purchase process, rather than allowing it to be applied to 2021 tickets or refunded.
Needless to say, the reactions have not been positive.

“If I take the option to rollover my season tickets, I still have to pay that fee in addition and I didn’t get the service or product for which I paid the fee in 2020,” Bill Cluck, class of 1982, told Pennlive.com. “There are some that argue that’s fraud.”

Seat contributions have shifted in recent years due to tax law changes introduced by the Trump administration. Previously, schools often required donations from season ticket holders as part of the process for gaining priority for season tickets, but the donations were tax-deductible and separate from the ticket buying process. Now, they are generally a line-item within the ticket purchase – a certain donation per-seat, depending on the stadium location of the seat. At Penn State, the seat contribution prices range from $100 to as high as $2,000 per seat.

As athletic departments scramble to plan around reduced capacity or no capacity amid the coronavirus, most are treating those seat donations in the same fashion they are treating their ticket prices: fans can roll that money over and apply it to 2021 season tickets and donations, or they can request a refund without penalty. Many, like Michigan, have requested that fans convert the donations to the old tax-deductible version for this year as a way of helping the school weather the financial storm.

Penn State isn’t leaving it up to the fans. The donations are being automatically converted, meaning all will have to donate once again to have their seats in 2021. Additionally, the school announced any fans who request a refund of their ticket prices rather than rolling them into next year’s tickets, will not be guaranteed their seating locations or parking for 2021.

Jeff Loeffert of 2002 alumnus from Florida is another. He and his family have been season ticket holders for 15 years. He says that his family pays $1,600 in seat contributions in addition to what they pay for the tickets themselves. Having to pay that again in 2021 means that they’ll have spent $3,200 just for the rights to buy tickets for one football season.
 
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pap

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Got this yesterday to inquire about possible options and prices in regards to seating options and amenities. Just give me a regular chair back, escalator to the upper level, larger concourses, improved restrooms, and that will be fine.
Most options appear to be for the more “well-heeled” patrons, but no options on the survey for the “regular folks”.

Prices range from $2000 to $6000 per seat and appears to include parking, private entrances (if at that level), lounges, food and beverages, etc.



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Everything you just asked for is in the Mount Nittany suites section aka South end zone
 

Train027

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Nov 1, 2021
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Jesus - these are bad, bad. I get wanting to upgrade the experience, but couple thoughts:

1. In-seat technology with screens - always poorly done. Think about how quick technology upgrades, and by the time you install all of them they already appear dated. Look at Septa down here with the Key program - they spent god knows how many millions and by the time they were installed, they couldn't even accept apple pay. Spend this money upgrading the in stadium wifi and cell coverage.

2. I appreciate an indoor area more than most (getting old) ... but these spaces are so wildly out of touch with a college stadium experience, that maybe I need to just forget about it.

3. Was hoping to see them keeping at least 1 trough bathroom, just for nostalgia purposes. I'll miss it.
A trough bathroom? Well, you could improvise one.😄🤢
 

pap

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Nov 1, 2021
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They aren’t sacrificing any of the student section. If you read up on the concepts for the renovation plan you would see that there is little or no intention to touch the south end zone. I suggest we all wait to see what the final plan looks like instead of jumping to conclusions. And, please, whatever you do don’t get frightened by the naysayers on this board who readily admit that they have no financial skin in the game (not even attending a single game) but feel they need to be the smartest people in the room by throwing stones at all things PSU.
For the record , and you should know this , there are two sections on the west and east sides that have the Freshman and Grad students sit in . How does that not get affected ?
 
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LBUfanatic

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For the record , and you should know this , there are two sections on the west and east sides that have the Freshman and Grad students sit in . How does that not get affected ?
Fair. I forgot about the west sections for students. However, the premise of the question, at least as I read it, was permanently displacing swaths of student tickets in favor of higher-priced seating options. I don’t know for sure, but my assumption is there will be some short-term disruption and/or relocation for some student sections.
 

PSUSignore

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Oct 25, 2021
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The survey is about OPTIONS for additional luxury seating opportunities. Based on feedback, they will implement what they believe is doable from an ROI standpoint. Not all of those listed will be built. In fact, maybe none of them get built. But, the same people who ***** about a survey would ***** about them never asking for public input. You (and others) probably know that but why miss an opportunity to complain for the sake of complaining.
There's not a chance in hell that none of them get built. It is a certainty. They make more money on these types of seats. That's a primary reason why NFL stadiums which have lower capacities overall have way more suites and such, the owners make more money on the suites which offsets the smaller capacities. If you actually believe there's a chance they will abandon all high priced luxury seating options based on the survey results I've got some swamp land to sell you.

Surveys like this are a great way to make it look like you are collecting community input while the final decisions are very unlikely to be swayed based on the results. Local government operates the same way. They hold community meetings where all the NIMBYs argue against whatever is being proposed and guess what, that thing gets adopted anyway while the leaders say they held "extensive community outreach sessions" before making a decision.
 
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GrimReaper

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Oct 12, 2021
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There's not a chance in hell that none of them get built. It is a certainty. They make more money on these types of seats. That's a primary reason why NFL stadiums which have lower capacities overall have way more suites and such, the owners make more money on the suites which offsets the smaller capacities. If you actually believe there's a chance they will abandon all high priced luxury seating options based on the survey results I've got some swamp land to sell you.

Surveys like this are a great way to make it look like you are collecting community input while the final decisions are very unlikely to be swayed based on the results. Local government operates the same way. They hold community meetings where all the NIMBYs argue against whatever is being proposed and guess what, that thing gets adopted anyway while the leaders say they held "extensive community outreach sessions" before making a decision.
Inclined to agree that the decisions on what to build have already been made. Problem is if the suites go unoccupied. Advantage NFL teams enjoy is that most of their suites are sold to companies.
 

pap

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Fair. I forgot about the west sections for students. However, the premise of the question, at least as I read it, was permanently displacing swaths of student tickets in favor of higher-priced seating options. I don’t know for sure, but my assumption is there will be some short-term disruption and/or relocation for some student sections.
Interesting to see how this is worked out .
 

gslachta

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May 16, 2023
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Or I can just tailgate here and watch on our 2 big screens. Then for away games buy scalped seats, fly first class, rent a limo and stay in a 4 star hotel, save money and still enjoy Penn State Football. Problem solved for me. Not so much for Penn State revenue.
 
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