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tions for success that I talk about all the time." And although Penn State is better equipped than most schools to handle the monetary drain, the scope of the athletic department creates difficulties. Attempting to provide resources for 800 student-athletes and 31 varsity teams means there are "a lot of places where we need resources to ensure that every one of our student-athletes has this in- credible experience," she said. Penn State is still paying off the fine, and Intercollegiate Athletics must also pay back a 30-year loan that it received from the university in order to meet its obligations during what Barbour de- scribed as "the starkest years of the sanctions." In addition, Penn State is still trying to recover from the revenue drop-off that occurred during the sanction years. The athletic depart- ment was forced to forgo its share of Big Ten bowl revenue and also saw declines in philanthropy, sponsorship and ticket sales in the aftermath of the Sandusky scandal. The new media rights deal being nego- tiated by the Big Ten, which by some es- timates could bring in more than $35 million annually per school, might seem like a panacea. But Barbour said that won't necessarily be the case for Penn State. "I know a lot of schools are making plans to use that money for facilities. I would love to be able to do that, but frankly, because of all the things I just talked about, that money is going to be [used] to take us back to whole," she said. "If it's bigger than I anticipate it's going to be, maybe there will be some- thing there. But if it's what I think it's going to be, it's going to be about taking us back to whole based on paying the fine, based on paying debt service around some borrowings to keep us whole, and around increased costs over the course of the last five years, and re- couping some revenue shortfall." Barbour has contin- ued to explore new ways of generating revenue, efforts that recently led to the announcement of an NHL preseason game at Pegula Ice Arena in the fall. In addition, she said the university is be- ginning to make plans for a significant fundraising campaign that will address needs throughout campus, including those of Intercollegiate Athletics. "We will have to assess what the ap- petite is of our community for brick and mortar and for the plans here," Barbour said. "And maybe we fundraise for facil- ities and from a philanthropic stand- point, maybe we fundraise for scholarships and program and then use those operational dollars that we're cur- rently committing today to help either Wider seats may diminish capacity of Beaver Stadium Since Penn State announced its part- nership with Populous last fall, ques- tions have swirled regarding the recommendations that the Kansas City- based consulting and architecture firm will make upon the release of its master plan for the university's athletic facili- ties. Chief among the unknowns has been how Penn State's most iconic venue, Beaver Stadium, might be re- imagined as planners look at ways to meet the program's evolving needs. Populous was still formulating its rec- ommendations as of mid-August, but as the stadium was being readied for its 57th home opener – this one against Kent State on Sept. 3 – the university's priorities were coming into focus. As Penn State athletic director Sandy Bar- bour explained earlier this summer, one of those priorities will likely be to widen the seats, a move that would reduce the stadium's overall capacity. "Beaver Stadium will get a little bit smaller," she said. "As you look at doing a wider seat and a longer tread, there's no way to not get smaller. I don't think it will be significant, but this seems to be the direction folks are going." Any move to reduce seating would re- verse a trend that, through six major expansion projects, has seen Penn State more than double the stadium's capac- ity, from 46,000 seats when it opened in 1960 to 106,572 today, a number that ranks second in the country and third in the world. It's unknown how many seats would have to be subtracted in order to meet the university's goals of A D M I N I S T R A T I V E N O T E B O O K FULL HOUSE With a capacity of 106,572, Penn State's home field is currently the second-largest sta- dium in the country and third-largest in the world. Photo by John Patishnock

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