Beaver Stadium
West Shore Home Field at Beaver Stadium, commonly known as Beaver Stadium, is a college football stadium on the campus of Pennsylvania State University in Penn State University Park. It has been home to the Penn State Nittany Lions football of the Big Ten Conference since 1960, though some parts of the stadium date back to 1909. It was also the site of university commencements until 1984. The stadium, as well as its predecessors, is named after James A. Beaver, a governor of Pennsylvania, president of the university's board of trustees, and native of nearby Millerstown. The stadium is part of College Township and has a University Park address.
Beaver Stadium has an official seating capacity of 106,572, making it currently the second-largest stadium in the Western Hemisphere and the fourth-largest in the world. Its natural grass playing field is aligned northwest to southeast at an approximate elevation of above sea level.
Beaver Stadium is widely known as one of the toughest venues for opposing teams in collegiate athletics. In 2008, it was recognized as having the best student section in the country for the second consecutive year. In 2019, it was named student section of the year by a committee of ESPN broadcasters and writers.
In 2016, Beaver Stadium was voted the number-one football stadium in college football in a USA Today poll, garnering over 41 percent of the vote. In March 2019, USA Today conducted another poll asking voters to decide the best stadium in the United States during "Bracket Madness", which coincided with the 2019 NCAA basketball tournament. Hundreds of thousands of fans voted for their favorites throughout the week. In the championship match-up, Beaver Stadium beat Kansas’ Allen Fieldhouse to claim the title of "Ultimate Stadium".
Since 2025, the stadium has been officially known as West Shore Home Field at Beaver Stadium after Penn State entered into a naming rights deal with West Shore Home.
Beaver Stadium was the first to have its interior included in Google Street View.
History
Predecessors
Until 1893, Penn State teams participated in sporting events on Old Main lawn, a large grassy area in front of the primary classroom building of the time. Beaver Field, a 500-seat structure located behind the current site of the Osmond Building, was the first permanent home for Penn State's football team, and the first game played there was a Penn State victory over Western University of Pennsylvania on November 6, 1893. In 1909, New Beaver Field opened just northeast of Rec Hall, roughly in the current location of the Nittany Parking deck. It served as Penn State's stadium until 1959. During the 1959-60 offseason, the entire 30,000 seat facility was dismantled and moved half a mile to the east end of campus. It was then reassembled, bolted onto a modern upper grandstand, and named Beaver Stadium. The "new" stadium seated 46,284 people; it roughly corresponds to the lower level of the current facility.Expansions
The stadium has been expanded six times, reflecting Penn State's rise to national prominence under Joe Paterno, then the team's head coach, more than doubling in size in the process. Expansions in 1972 brought capacity to 57,538. Another expansion in 1976 increased capacity to 60,203. In 1978, 16,000 seats were added when the stadium was cut into sections and raised on hydraulic lifts, allowing the insertion of seating along the inner ring of the stadium where the track had previously been located, raising capacity to 76,639. This expansion is particularly noticeable, as there's a distinct color change when crossing from the original, New Beaver Field steel grandstands onto the newer, stone and concrete additions. In 1980, maximum capacity increased to 83,770. In 1985, walkways were added around the tops of the end zones and entry ramps at the stadium's corners resulted in lowering the capacity to 83,370. An expansion was completed for the 1991 football season, placing an upper deck addition over the north end zone and raising capacity to 93,967.A major and somewhat controversial construction project took place in 2001, raising the stadium's total capacity to 107,282. An upper deck was added to the south end of the stadium, blocking the view of neighboring Mount Nittany, but making Beaver Stadium the second-largest stadium in the nation, behind Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
In 2006, the stadium underwent major structural and aesthetic upgrades. Old steel beams supporting the upper seats in the east, north and west were replaced and strengthened, and new railing was installed, stronger than the old railing which collapsed following the 2005 Ohio State game.
In 2007, over 22,000 student tickets sold out in 59 minutes. In 2008, when tickets were sold by grade, tickets allotted for junior students sold out in 90 seconds, and those for sophomores and freshmen sold out in under three minutes each.
In 2011, the stadium capacity was reduced from 107,282 seats to 106,572 to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The appearance of the stadium has been enhanced with the addition of large blue letters spelling out "The Pennsylvania State University" on the west-facing suites, and a list of Penn State's undefeated, national championship, and Big Ten championship years underneath. 2012 is the exception, which was added to this list during the November 24, 2012 game against Wisconsin to honor the team that played after sanctions were passed down during the aftermath of the Jerry Sandusky scandal. Nine markers depicting the various traditions of Beaver Stadium, including the Penn State Blue Band, the student section, and the blue buses which bring the team to the stadium, have been placed around the stadium as well. In late October, the walls surrounding the field were refaced with Pennsylvania limestone. An iron gate has replaced the old chain-link face at the players' entrance into the stadium. On the new gate the words "PENN STATE" appear in blue.
The Penn State Office of Physical Plant and Athletic Department expanded the north and south video boards to HD video boards and because parts were no longer available for the old boards. The area of the new video screens dedicated to game replays and game-related video is much larger than the screens they replaced. The two video boards together are some of the largest in college football. The renovation expanded the size of the video boards by eliminating the current game clock and lamp matrix display. The boards are only the second of their kind made and are 4K UHD. The project was completed prior to the first home game of the 2014 season. The boards cost approx. $10 million. Also on the back of both boards is a LED Nittany Lion logo that lights at night and was added to promote the "Penn State brand". Starting with the 2015 season fireworks are shot off from the top of each scoreboard when the team takes the field.
In the fall semester of 2015, university officials stated that they are seeking options to renovate or replace Beaver Stadium in the next 10 years. Officials state that there is a recognized need in an upgrade in the facilities. The stadium remains antiquated, despite multiple expansions and the additions of luxury boxes and HD scoreboards. Outdated plumbing requires complete winterization each November. Elevators are small and sluggish while concourses are narrow. The stadium lacks concession options and still uses bleachers. The limitations prevent wider use of the venue; the university would like to expand the number of events held at Beaver Stadium, such as major concerts and a long-discussed potential hosting of the NHL Winter Classic. Many fans are opposed to replacing Beaver Stadium due to the history and tradition but many agree that there is a need for renovation.
On September 8, 2021, Penn State dedicated a Chair of Honor for all prisoners of war/missing in action service members in the "SLU" section of the stadium, above the student section, where it will remain empty in perpetuity. This chair was unveiled during the Nittany Lions' first home football game of the season against Ball State on September 11.
On May 21, 2024, the Penn State Board of Trustees approved a renovation of Beaver Stadium, which will grow revenue-generating opportunities, transform the fan and community experience, and fuel the future funding for all 31 athletics programs at Penn State. The vote was 26-2, with three abstaining. The approved renovations will enable year-round use of Beaver Stadium, further driving economic growth and development in the surrounding region. Including the first stage of the Beaver Stadium renovation, which was approved in May 2023, the total project will cost no more than $700 million and will be completed before the 2027 college football season. This multi-year project is financed and paid for entirely by Intercollegiate Athletics. A part of the renovation, dedicated to the scoreboards, was completed before the Kent State game.
On the morning of January 4, 2025, the west end press box was demolished with controlled explosives. It was originally built at New Beaver Field and was moved to the current Beaver Stadium in 1959. It was significantly expanded in 1980.
On March 10, 2025, the Penn State Board of Trustees announced the sale of the stadium's naming rights to West Shore Home, a Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania-based home remodeling company owned by Penn State alumni. The 15-year deal officially renamed the stadium to West Shore Home Field at Beaver Stadium.
Attendance records
A record crowd of 111,030 witnessed Penn State's 20–13 loss to Ohio State, on November 2, 2024.File:Beaver Stadium 10-08-2005.jpg|thumb|On October 8, 2005, 109,839 attendees at Beaver Stadium witnessed the Nittany Lions defeat Ohio State 17 to 10, in what was then the second-largest crowd in college football history.
In 2002, Penn State set an NCAA record for most fans to ever watch a college football team over the course of a single season at home. Beaver Stadium hosted 8 games in 2002, and averaged 107,239 per game totaling what was at the time an NCAA record of 857,911 in total home attendance. Penn State averaged 95,977 fans in attendance both home and away over the 13 game schedule which broke the all time full season attendance NCAA record at 1,247,707 spectators over the course of the 2002 campaign.