Beaver Stadium

Beaver Stadium
	Happy Valley
	Beaver Stadium in October 2007
Earlier names
	Beaver Field
Data
place	1 Beaver Stadium State College , Pennsylvania 16802 ;
Coordinates	40 ° 48 '44 " N , 77 ° 51' 22" W Coordinates: 40 ° 48 '44 " N , 77 ° 51' 22" W.
owner	Pennsylvania State University
operator	Pennsylvania State University
start of building	1909
opening	September 17, 1960 ; (at the current location)
Renovations	1969, 1972, 1976, 1978, 1980, 1985, 1991, 2001
surface	Natural grass
capacity	106,572 seats
Societies)
	Penn State Nittany Lions ( NCAA football, since 1909);

The Beaver Stadium is a stadium on the campus of the Pennsylvania State University in State College in the US state of Pennsylvania . It is mainly used for American football . It is the home of the Penn State Nittany Lions college football team , which is part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The venue was named after James A. Beaver , a former governor of Pennsylvania (1887-1891) and president of the university's oversight committee.

With an official capacity of 106,572, it is the second largest stadium in the United States after Michigan Stadium (107,601). It is also one of the largest sports stadiums in the world. The previous attendance record was achieved on October 21, 2017 with 110,823 viewers in the 42-13 win against the Michigan Wolverines.

history

predecessor

Until 1893, the Penn State teams played on the lawn in front of the Old Main , the main lecture hall at the time. Beaver Field , a 500-seat facility, was the football team's first permanent home. In 1909, the New Beaver Field was opened northeast of the Recreational Hall . It served as Penn State Stadium until 1960, when the entire 30,000-seat stadium was dismantled and rebuilt at the east end of the campus, expanded to 46,284 seats and rebranded as Beaver Stadium .

Extensions

Extensions in 1969, 1974 and 1976 increased the audience capacity to 60,203. Another 16,000 seats were added in 1978 when the stadium was divided into sections and raised with hydraulic elevators so that more seats could be added along the inner ring of the stadium where the athletics track was previously located. In 1980 the maximum capacity increased to 83,770. For the 1991 football season, an additional upper deck was built behind the northern end zone to increase the capacity to 90,000.

With the last expansion in 2001, the stadium capacity was increased to a total of 107,282. An upper deck was also added to the south end of the stadium, blocking the view of the neighboring Mount Nittany , which for some fans had sentimental value.