Will a winter football season happen? Likely not in Happy Valley, James Franklin says
Penn State football has now turned its attention to playing in the winter after the Big Ten postponed fall sports last week due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, but that doesn’t guarantee that the Nittany Lions will be playing their games in Beaver Stadium.
Coach James Franklin said Wednesday morning that the team could have to play its games elsewhere to make the winter or early spring work.
“We’re at a point right now that we have to do everything we possibly can to save the 2020 season,” Franklin said on a video conference with the media. “And do it in a way that’s not going to impact — or have the least amount of impact on — the ‘21 season.”
To Franklin, that means the earlier the 2020 season can be held, the better. Even if that means playing elsewhere.
Franklin suggested that the games could potentially take place in domes in specific cities, creating a controlled environment that would make it easier for Big Ten schools that face weather issues in the winter and early spring.
The Penn State head coach originally proposed the idea on ESPN television show “Get Up” last week and suggested using cities like Detroit, Indianapolis and Minneapolis.
“The domes provide an opportunity for consistency from a weather standpoint,” he said Wednesday morning. “I think it also just helps with kind of the routine. These domes get used to working with the Big Ten and how we make it work. You don’t have TV flying all over the country. They’re able to set up as basically a home base in these cities and make it work.”
But for local businesses holding out for the hope of a later season, that plan would be devastating.
Penn State football games usually boast over 100,000 attendees, with many of those spectators coming from areas other than State College — which had an estimated population of 42,160 in July 2019, according to the United States Census Bureau.
Those Nittany Lion fans come in droves and bring revenue to bars, hotels, restaurants and most other businesses in the area.
James Tierney — a Penn State assistant teaching professor of economics — recently told the Centre Daily Times that a lost season would be a “big hit” to the local economy, but that a spring season would be “huge” and could give those business owners hope for a turnaround sooner rather than later.
Happy Valley Adventure Bureau President and CEO Fritz Smith said no football season would “cause a financial crater” in the region. “It’s devastating,” he said.
Franklin is aware of the harm a lost season will cause and feels the weight of the community on his shoulders.
“As the head football coach at Penn State, I carry a weight with me,” Franklin said. “I feel ingrained in this community. I go on my little walks through town. ... I feel the weight of that. I know Penn State football has a significant impact on the community, on the people of the community, on the businesses of the community. I recognize that.”
But playing a winter or spring football season in Happy Valley would have its challenges. Athletics Director Sandy Barbour hit on a few of them in her Monday press conference, including how the infrastructure of Beaver Stadium would hold up during January or February games, and scheduling around the university’s other 30 varsity programs that might also be playing at that time.
Franklin said he understands the impact a lost season will have on the State College community. But at the end of the day, there may not be much he — or anyone else — can do to bring fans to Happy Valley for the football season, whenever it may be.
“In a perfect world, would you love to have games in Beaver Stadium this winter and be able to have fans there and be able to help the local economy? Yes. Without a doubt. 100%,” Franklin said. “But based on all the information we have, I don’t know how realistic that is right now.”
