The Penn State Board of Trustees have made it official: Beaver Stadium has a new name.
From this day forward, the home of Penn State football since 1960 will go by โWest Shore Home Fieldโ at Beaver Stadium.
This passed with a 22-8 vote with six members absent for the vote.
Among the eight โnosโ were trustees Anthony Lubrano and Jay Paterno, as well as former Penn State players Matt McGloin and Brandon Short.
This is news that will take plenty of Penn State fans some time to get used to, and justifiably so. Beaver Stadium has been Beaver Stadium since before John F. Kennedy was president. At the same time, a change like this felt inevitable. For one, a stadium not being named after a sponsor is increasingly rare by the year.
Considering Penn State is in the process of funding a $700 million dollar โrevitalization projectโ for Beaver Stadium, it kinda makes sense to get some help from a sponsor.
THE PROJECT
This is already a big transition period for Penn Stateโs home, with PSU being in the middle of a $700 million renovation project. The renovation is slated to be complete before the 2027 football season.
Penn State AD Pat Kraft has said before that heโd be open to changing the name of Beaver Stadium.
In an interview with StateCollege.com last year, Kraft said he would be โopen to everything.โ
Last month, Kraft expressed optimism about the project.ย
โFeel really good about it,โ he said. โFundraising has been awesome. Really excited about that. (The stadium) will have temp seating. Think of Northwestern a little how they built that stadium on the shore. Or (the) Waste Management (Golf Tournament). Those are the people handling it. Itโll look very temporary.โ
Kraft said that even with the temporary format, Penn Stateโs capacity shouldnโt change much, if at all.
He also said there will be a โconstruction formatโ but that he doesnโt expect that to create any issues.
โTheyโll work throughout the year,โ Kraft said.
Kraft said the temporary seating may in fact provide a better view that what the previous West Side of the stadium had.
โReally happy about where itโs going,โ Kraft said. โItโs something fans are going to be proud of.โ
