Penn State offers sneak peek inside Beaver Stadium ahead of outdoor hockey games
Hockey Valley is inching closer to making its first-ever appearance within the confines of Penn State football’s Beaver Stadium.
The men’s hockey team will compete in an outdoor hockey game against Michigan State at 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 31. And the men won’t be the only ones. The women’s varsity team will also play Jan. 30, and plans have been made on other days to include other hockey-playing members of the community, such as the State College Youth Ice Hockey Association’s Icers teams and Penn State’s club hockey team.
Ahead of the outdoor hockey games, the athletic department has released photos and videos of the process of transforming the football stadium into a hockey venue. It most recently posted images Wednesday morning of what appears to be the completed outdoor rink.
Take a look at the rink and stadium’s progress, from the earliest tweets to the most recent:
Tickets for the men’s game went on sale to the general public in mid-October, with the cheapest non-student prices in the upper decks starting at $28. The cheapest verified tickets from Ticketmaster are now selling for $32.95, which includes taxes. Admission for the women’s game, which takes place 1 p.m. Jan. 30, is free.
Whispers of the possibility of an outdoor hockey game at Beaver Stadium have circulated around Happy Valley since at least 2017, but logistical and facility constraints largely prevented that from happening. However, with the winterization of the stadium ahead of the 2024 season’s home College Football Playoff game, a lot of those constraints were eliminated.
Athletic director Pat Kraft, who took over in 2022, has said for years that Beaver Stadium can and should be a venue for other events outside of football. In April 2024, the stadium became a concert venue for the second time in its history when country star Luke Combs performed there in front of 80,000 people, and a beer festival was held on the field a month later.
Hosting outdoor hockey games is just the latest venture — one that Kraft was pleased to announce in the fall, in the midst of a stadium renovation that will cost up to $700 million.
“To bring the excitement of college hockey to Beaver Stadium is truly special,” Kraft said in a written statement from August. “Having our men’s program face a premier Big Ten opponent in Michigan State and our women’s program face Robert Morris on this stage reflects the incredible growth and national profile of Penn State Hockey and provides an unforgettable experience for our student-athletes, alumni and fans.
“We can’t wait to see Hockey Valley come alive in Beaver Stadium.”
