Where do ticket sales stand for Penn State’s CFP game vs. SMU? Here’s what AD Pat Kraft said

The first home playoff game in Beaver Stadium history is only one week away, and some have voiced concern over whether Penn State will get a full showing from the Nittany Lion faithful.

The Dec. 21 game against the SMU Mustangs — which will kick off at noon — has yet to sell out, but Penn State athletic director Pat Kraft doesn’t expect that to be an issue.

“We’ll get to a sellout,” he told the Centre Daily Times on Thursday afternoon.

In fact, the athletic director said he wasn’t overly surprised that it’s taken a little bit of time. To date, he said more than 100,000 tickets have already been sold.

“I think people don’t realize how big we are,” Kraft said about the game not selling out immediately. “Timing is everything. The student tickets, just with them being away and it starting break — I thought that was going to have an impact on the student tickets. That didn’t really surprise me. I say this, and we’re still over 100,000. I think weather, as people find out what the forecast is going to be, we’ll get the 6,000 and change in there. I think that’s just the reality of timing.”

The 6,000 Kraft referred to was a rough estimate of the number of remaining tickets for the game when he last checked on Thursday. While it’s not yet a sellout, it’s not far off from the capacity of 106,572.

Notre Dame, Texas and Ohio State are also hosting first-round playoff games, with Notre Dame selling out its 77,622-seat stadium and Ohio State selling out its 102,780-seat stadium. Texas did not make tickets available to the general public, instead directing non-season ticket-holders to purchase seats from the program’s ticket partner, SeatGeek. And no tickets were selling below face value there as of Thursday night. The capacity of the Longhorns’ stadium is 100,119.

Although the Nittany Lions want a full stadium to support the program, not reaching a sellout will not have a direct financial impact because all ticket revenue will go to the College Football Playoff, and not to Penn State.

Most of the several thousand available tickets for the game are concentrated in two areas that aren’t usually available for public purchase — the southeast and southwest corners of the stadium. Most of those tickets are usually reserved for students, but the athletic department said they did not request their full allotment of tickets for the game.

Resale tickets are available for the game at prices above face value in almost every section, with only sections EJ and WJ having 100-plus available in those markets.

The unsold Penn State tickets can be had for as little as $120.60 each, or as much as $231.65 each, depending on how close they are to the field. The resale market is more expensive, for the most part. There are a small number of tickets available for as low as $102, but most of the other tickets are being sold for above face value on Ticketmaster’s resale market.

Parking for the game is trickier, with passes set to be available in advance for lots 11, 25, 33 and 34. Those general public passes will have variable pricing, with the lowest being $125. Unlike the ticket revenue, the parking revenue will go to Penn State.

Resale parking passes — presumably from season ticket-holders, who were able to already purchase the passes — are also available on secondary markets like StubHub, but for exorbitant prices. The cheapest pass, as of Thursday night, for a car was listed at $555 with fees already included. There were only 18 parking pass listings available on the website, in part because Penn State has not started selling parking passes tot the general public. The cheapest pass on SeatGeek, with fees included, was $566 with only 13 options listed.

Day-of-game parking will be subject to availability and will be in lots 11, 25 and 36 and can be purchased by credit card.

This story was originally published December 13, 2024 at 11:47 AM.

Jon Sauber

Centre Daily Times

(814) 231-6461

Jon Sauber covers Penn State football and men’s basketball for the Centre Daily Times. He earned his B.A. in digital and print journalism from Penn State and his M.A. in sports journalism from IUPUI. His previous stops include jobs at The Indianapolis Star, the NCAA, and Rivals.