Stadium Special Events
Special Events/Concerts at Beaver Stadium—
Hockey Valley moves Outdoors to Beaver Stadium
It was originally announced on Aug. 29, 2025, that PSU would host a men’s/women’s hockey doubleheader at Beaver Stadium (West Shore Home Field) on Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026. The Penn State men vs. Michigan State with a women’s game vs. Robert Morris. This was the first time that Beaver Stadium had hosted any sport other than football. This was also somewhat unexpected since the 2027 stadium renovations were still ongoing.
The women’s game was eventually shifted to Friday afternoon, Jan. 30 to become the actual first hockey game ever at Beaver Stadium. Penn state shut out Robert Morris, 3-0. Katie DeSa came up with 13 saves for her 22nd career shutout (a PSU program record). McKenna Walsh got the game winning goal for the Lions. Attendance was announced as 1,838 which was a new single game record for the Penn State women.
The next afternoon, Penn State lost to Michigan State, 5-4 in OT in front of an announced crowd of 74,575 (the 2nd largest college hockey crowd of all-time and largest since 2010 at Michigan Stadium)… Aiden Fink scored 2 goals and Shea Van Olm’s 3rd period goal gave PSU a 4-3 lead. But the Spartans tied it at 4 and won in OT.
The game and the stadium attendance figures could open the door to a possible NHL game in the future at Penn State. There are certainly plenty of Penguins and Flyers fans who could fill Beaver Stadium, and Terry Pegula, PSU grad and Buffalo Sabres owner, could factor into that, as well.
For the record, the game at Beaver Stadium in 2026 was not the first outdoor game for Penn State men’s hockey. On Jan. 3, 2025, PSU played Notre Dame in the Big Ten “The Frozen Confines” series at Wrigley Field in Chicago. In front of 25,709 fans, the game ends in a 3-3 tie but, the Irish won a shootout that ran 8 rounds. Penn State goaltender Arsenii Sergeev matched his career high with 43 saves. Then two days later at South Bend, PSU shutout Notre Dame, 3-0, with Sergeev making 34 saves.
Concerts at Beaver Stadium
T80,000 fans for the April 27, 2024 Luke Combs concert (country music star) on the final weekend ahead of spring semester final exam week…. North endzone seating was completely closed along with the northern-most seating on both east and west sides….. there was seating on field in front of the stage… temps hovered in the 50s for the first concert at Beaver Stadium since Blake Shelton (among others) performed there in July 2017 in the first ever concert at this venue which at the time maxed out at 70K possible attendance… although actual attendance were reportedly far lower, in part, no doubt, to being outside of the school year and many students were simply not in town….//Blake Shelton scheduled to return to PSU for concert at BJC March 22, 2025…
Brewers Fest at Beaver Stadium
The Hoppy Valley Brewers Fest 2024 at Beaver Stadium--- 76 breweries from around Pennsylvand and nearby states set up tents on the field at Beaver Stadium on May 11, 2024 for a PSU first (this was the weekend following spring semester graduation so the students were mostly gone from campus)…. Several thousand beer fans (3K to 3500 was estimated/total official attendance was never made public) attended the first of its kind “tasting” event despite a threat of late day showers that mostly held off until the final 90 minutes… this was no doubt a test drive of another potential athletic dept. Fundraiser putting the stadium to use on non-football season dates…. Fans got to enter the field via the players gate in the south endzone… //the 2025 event was held July 19 in parking lot next to Medlar Field due to the ongoing renovations at Beaver Stadium…. And the 2026 event was scheduled May 24 at Panzer Stadium, but was cancelled May 1 due to poor advance ticket sales…
