Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/797655
the kind of players who will be able to help Penn State sustain and build on the success it enjoyed in 2016 – Franklin said he would love to see all of Beaver Stadium's 107,000 seats filled. "That would make a tremendous statement across the country about Penn State football and where we're headed," he said. Well, yes, it would. Filling Beaver Sta- dium for the Blue-White Game would require the Lions to draw 42,000 more fans than attended last year's game. That seems ambitious, to say the least. But you can understand the impulse. Last April, Ohio State drew 100,189 to the Horseshoe for its intrasquad scrim- mage, the largest crowd for a spring game in college football history. Else- where, Georgia attracted 93,000 for Kirby Smart's debut as head coach, while Alabama had 76,212 and Nebraska 72,992. If Penn State is going to be competitive in everything it does, to borrow a phrase, it might as well com- pete in the realm of spring football at- tendance. Especially since recruiting success depends in part on creating an aura of excitement around your pro- gram. Even if they aren't able to break records this spring, the Lions' success in 2016 has led to a surge in ticket sales. Through early February, Penn State had sold 3,612 new season tickets, while the renewal rate among Nittany Lion Club members was 91.7 percent, a 7.3 per- cent improvement over the previous year. Franklin said last month that Penn State had sold more than 400 season tickets on signing day alone. "There are a lot of really good things going on," he said. The fans who turn out in April are going to see a work in progress, and the same will likely be true for those who turn out in September. Penn State is benchmarking itself against the best programs in the country, which means that its efforts are far from complete. As Franklin acknowledged, "We've got a lot of work to do in a lot of areas. We've made great progress, but we've still got a long way to go. For us to catch the pro- grams that we're competing against, we've still got a long way to go in a lot of different areas." It's a strange place for the Nittany Lions to find themselves. They are the defending Big Ten champs, owners of that coveted silver football, but they don't feel as though they've really, truly arrived. If they are going to arrive as the perennial title contenders they aspire to be, they must build on the momentum they established in 2016. The best way to do that is to resist the temptation to look back and instead stay focused on what lies ahead. ■ S P R I N G P R A C T I C E P R E V I E W FANTASTIC CUISINE EXCEP TIONAL ATMOSPHERE Voted Best Fine Dining V o o t e d B e s t F i n e D i n i n g College & Cato W ve Av . College & Cato carnegieinnandspa.com | 814.234.2424 Corner of Cricklewood Dr. and Toftrees Ave. Corner of Cricklewood Dr. and Toftrees Ave. carnegieinnandspa.com | 814.234.2424 . College & Cato W. College & Cato 814.861.3463 gigisdining.com RN RN ABLE ABLE TA T ve Av . College & Cato 814.861.3463 gigisdining.com