Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1482664
5 2 N O V E M B E R 2 0 2 2 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M E D I T O R I A L MATT HERB MATT.HERB@ON3.COM W hen college athletics administra- tors were deciding in the spring of 2021 whether to reopen their venues at full capacity after playing the 2020 football season in front of sparse, socially distanced crowds, one of the ra- tionales for getting those turnstiles spin- ning again was to mitigate the economic devastation that COVID had already inflicted. Unlike their professional counterparts, college sports are often played in small markets that depend on tourism to fuel their economies. With a population of about 42,000, State College borough is one of the smallest of the country's his- toric sports destinations. It's less than half the size of Tuscaloosa (100,600) and South Bend (102,700), about a third as big as Ann Arbor (121,000) and about a quarter the size of Eugene (170,400). The Big Ten stringently adhered to public health guidelines in 2020, which meant that its stadiums were even emp- tier than those of the SEC and ACC. The economic imperative to begin refilling those seats when it was safe to do so was a theme to which Penn State's then-ath- letics director, Sandy Barbour, frequently returned in the spring of 2021. Of course, Penn State and its Power Five counterparts did return to full ca- pacity that fall. The Nittany Lions aver- aged 106,799 fans per game, second best in the country behind Michigan. It's now been two years since that hastily improvised 2020 season, and we have a clearer picture than ever of the economic impact that sports have had on the Centre Region. A recently released study commis- sioned by the Happy Valley Adventure Bureau found that sports generate $417 million in economic activity annually in Centre County. That activity supports 4,315 jobs, with employees earning $133 million in compensation. It will come as no surprise to learn that Penn State football accounts for most of those figures. Of the 1.6 million annual sports attendees that the county attracts, 890,500 come for Nittany Lion football games. PSU's home games generate $87 million in visitor spending annually. Joe Battista, the longtime Penn State hockey coach and administrator who now serves as chair of the Happy Valley Sports and Entertainment Alliance, said the data will be useful as officials seek ways to enhance the area's sports tour- ism revenues. "We know there are tremendous op- portunities to grow that impact," Battista said. "We have first-class facilities, and a desirable, recognizable destination." PSU has pretty much maxed out its potential football attendance. Last year's average exceeded Beaver Stadium's listed capacity by 227 fans per game, a result of standing-room-only crowds it attracted for the Auburn and Michigan games. In that respect, PSU bucked a nation- wide trend, as did its Big Ten counter- parts. The Big Ten was the only Power Five conference to see its average atten- dance rise in 2021. With Michigan, Penn State and Ohio State leading the way, the league drew an average of 65,252 fans per game last year, a 0.003 percent increase over the 2019 season. (The NCAA didn't track attendance in 2020.) While SEC schools averaged 72,195 fans, their attendance was down by 0.007 percent. The other Power Five conferences saw much steeper declines. The Big 12 was down 4.3 percent, the Pac-12 4.8 percent and the ACC an alarming 11.7 percent. The ACC's aver- age attendance was its lowest since 1990. The Pac-12's average was its lowest ever. Overall, attendance has been steadily shrinking for more than a decade. On average, 46,971 fans attended FBS games in 2008. By contrast, the FBS average last fall was 39,848 fans, a 15 percent decline from that record high 13 years earlier. Last year's average attendance was the lowest since 1981. Those numbers show just what a privileged position Penn State — and by extension the entire State College community — finds itself in. Even after a downturn in their on-field fortunes, the Nittany Lions continue to draw well, helping keep the region's economic en- gine humming along. If there is to be continued growth in Centre County's sports tourism industry, it will likely need to originate from some- where other than the Lasch Building. Maybe second-year coach Micah Shrewsberry can build PSU into the kind of men's basketball program that attracts out-of-town fans for midweek games during the gloomiest days of winter. Maybe when its contract with Cum- berland Valley High School expires after the 2025 season, the Pennsylvania Inter- scholastic Athletic Association would consider holding its football champion- ships at Beaver Stadium, as James Frank- lin recommended a few years ago. The wrestling team has already de- cided to move two of its home matches to the 15,261-seat Bryce Jordan Center rather than the customary one match. That will certainly help. State College is a company town and probably always will be. That's inher- ently dangerous, because when business is bad in a company town, it's bad for everyone. For now, though, business is good. And in the years to come, it could be even better. ■ Penn State has routinely sold out the 15,261-seat Bryce Jordan Center for the wrestling team's annual match there. PHOTO COURTESY PENN STATE ATHLETICS PSU Accounts For Lions' Share Of Region's Sports Economy VARSITY VIEWS