How fans — and hot dogs — are having a ‘massive impact’ on Penn State baseball
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Dollar Dog Night draws large crowds and spikes Penn State attendance.
- High turnout and the student section bolster home-field advantage.
- Fan interest influences recruiting, transfers and program growth.
From intensely popular Dollar Dog Nights to a newly-formed student section, the increase in fans for Penn State baseball are “program-changing,” coach Mike Gambino said Tuesday night.
“People talk about this,” Gambino said after the first Dollar Dog Night of the season, with 2,443 fans in attendance. “It comes up in the transfer portal, it comes up in high school recruiting; people want to come play here and play in front of these fans.”
Gambino was fired up after Penn State’s comeback 8-6 win on Tuesday night. The 2,443 fans in the seats of Medlar Field at Lubrano Park has in the past been a rare occurrence for Penn State baseball. The stadium can seat 5,570 fans, and often does for State College Spikes games. But when Penn State baseball is in season, the attendance is as inconsistent as the weather — a pattern that isn’t coincidental.
But, if there’s one thing that ensures attendance for Penn State baseball, it’s Dollar Dog Night. No matter the weather, the record, or the opposing team, Dollar Dog Night has drawn growing crowds since it started in 2023.
Tuesday night’s game against St. Bonaventure was no exception. The Nittany Lions entered the game 6-15, and the Bonnies 5-16. It was 47 degrees at first pitch, and the sun that had been glaring down all day had fallen behind the stadium’s overhang, casting a shadow upon its seats. Nonetheless, the game, or more relevantly, Dollar Dog Night, drew a crowd of nearly half the stadium’s capacity.
The event has had an impact on the field, with fans getting involved Tuesday night after the team scored early.
“It was great,” Gambino said. “You see it in [the opposing team’s] dugout too, when we score, and the crowd starts going, you can just feel it.”
Penn State jumped out to an early 2-0 lead with a pair of two-out singles in the early innings, and starting pitcher Frankie Sanchez had suffocated the St. Bonaventure lineup through the first three innings. The crowd was into it.
But the Bonnies launched a comeback and took a lead through the middle innings. Despite the deficit and the temperature, fans hung around — their support unwavering. And it paid off in the seventh inning, when Penn State infielder Bryce Molinaro launched a 426-foot two-run home run that gave Penn State a late lead.
“The students have a massive impact,” Gambino said. “The two biggest things students and fans can affect are home field advantage and recruiting, and they’re affecting that with our program.”
Penn State has had no shortage of success during Dollar Dog Night when attendance is highest. They’ve posted an 11-5 record during these games, which includes a 3-2 upset win last season over No. 17 West Virginia.
A record 6,106 fans packed into Medlar Field for that upset win and ate 12,112 hot dogs in nine innings, shattering the previous attendance and hot dog records of 4,902 and 8,591, respectively.
Tuesday night didn’t quite reach that level, but fans still gobbled 6,350 hot dogs. The Dollar Dog Night total through 16 games now stands at a whopping 80,851, averaging roughly 5,053 hot dogs per game. And Gambino believes there’s room for more.
“We have to get to 10 [thousand] at some point,” he said with a chuckle. “We know we’ll get to 12 [thousand] when we play West Virginia here. You know the cool thing is, from a growth of the program standpoint, [tonight] probably would have been the biggest one in year one.”
Part of that growth has come from the newly introduced baseball student section, Section 814, which has helped encourage fan attendance. You can find the section behind the opposing team’s dugout, wearing hot dog costumes for Dollar Dog Night and supporting their team with chants, like every other Penn State student section.
“That group’s electric isn’t it? The guys love it, we all get excited about it,” Gambino said “But it’s also the other 2,500 people in the park tonight. It’s not a warm night right now, and I’ve said it over and over: We’re trying to build a championship-caliber baseball program, and we need the support of students and fans.”
Penn State baseball will host Bucknell at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday and then kick off a weekend series in Medlar Field at Lubrano Park against Illinois, Friday at 5:30 p.m. The next Dollar Dog Night will be Wednesday, April 1, against UCF.
