College football playing international games isn’t new, and that includes Penn State.
Penn State played UCF in the 2014 Croke Park Classic held in Dublin, Ireland where Sam Ficken hit the game-winning field goal to open the James Franklin era with a 26-24 win
Many other high profile programs have played games internationally such as Florida State, Notre Dame, USC, Oregon, Clemson, and Nebraska.
Michigan is engaged in discussions to host a game in Frankfurt, Germany against Western Michigan to kickoff their 2026 regular season.
Where would we want to see Penn State play its second international game?
Here is our top selections:
Allianz Arena – Munich, Germany
While Michigan attempts to host an out of conference game in Germany, Penn State has a golden opportunity to ante up the Wolverines.
Oktoberfest, which usually runs from the end of September to the beginning of October, could be a significant backdrop to a titanic Big Ten opener for Penn State.
If you think this could never happen, Wisconsin clinched the 1993 Big Ten Championship against Michigan State 41-20 in the Tokyo Dome, in Tokyo, Japan.
The pros to this is the time difference, six hours from the U.S. Eastern time zone, FOX Big Noon would be a semi primetime game for them and maybe lead to FOX reconsidering its position of wanting to be the host of the polarizing noon slot.
Secondly, having Oktoberfest in the backdrop isn’t a losing proposition. Though beware, the $20 liter of beers might catch up to you fast.
Camp Nou – Barcelona, Spain
The largest stadium in Europe is going through a renovation that would increase seating capacity to roughly 105,000.
The venue has been used for hosting La Liga’s Barcelona FC, Copa del Rey, UEFA Super Cup, World Cup matches, as well as a venue for the iconic 1992 Summer Olympics.
Camp Nou once crammed 120,000 spectators for a match with Juventus in the 1986 European Cup Quarterfinal.
The city of Barcelona itself is a jewel, and Penn State fans would enjoy going up and down Las Ramblas. Visiting the sites of the 1992 Summer Olympics and seeing Michael Jordan’s foot print is an ultimate highlight.
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Maracanã Stadium – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Last season, the NFL invaded Brazil visiting Sao Paolo where the eventual Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Green Bay Packers 34-29.
The league is returning again to Brazil in their International Series where the Kansas City Chiefs will play the Los Angeles Chargers in Sao Paolo.
With that said, why not go big and hit up Rio and play in one of the most iconic football stadiums on the planet?
Maracanã Stadium has hosted the World Cup where a record 173,850 watched Brazil defeat Uruguay 2-1 in the 1950 final. Since then, the World Cup has returned, Maracanã Stadium was a strategic host for many events during the 2016 Summer Olympics.
To play at a venue where football legends like Pele, Messi, Ronaldo, Neymar, amongst others have competed is a special one.
For the fans staying at home, Rio is one hour ahead of the U.S. Eastern time zone, so that wouldn’t have as much impact for viewers at home.
Accor Stadium – Sydney, Australia
It seems there are more and more Aussie style punters making their way through the college ranks and into the NFL, so why not try to tap into Australian Football by having a game at the second largest stadium in Australia?
Accor Stadium holds 83,500 and has been used for various events, including the closing ceremonies of the 2000 Summer Olympics.
The venue isn’t foreign to American football. The NFL hosted the 1999 “American Bowl” in Accor where the defending Super Bowl champion Denver Broncos played a preseason game against the San Diego Chargers.
The Broncos won that contest 20-17.
