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 since the track was removed in the 1978 expansion. This was also a somewhat unexpected decision since the 2027 stadium renovations were still ongoing (the west upper temporary bleachers were closed because they were due to be removed). Naturally, setting up an ice rink on a football field was no small feat and there were some issues with the sun melting the ice despite some seriously frigid temps (16 degrees with a single digit wind chill on Saturday, for example).
The women’s game was eventually shifted to Friday afternoon, Jan. 30 and it became the actual first hockey game ever at Beaver Stadium. #4 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, #5 Penn State lost to #2 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, Gavin McKenna had a goal and 2 assists, 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.
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
There have been 2 major concert events held at Beaver Stadium. The most recent drew a reported 80,000 fans for the April 27, 2024 Luke Combs (country music star) concert 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 on-field seating in front of the stage… Temps hovered in the 50’s for the first concert at Beaver Stadium since Blake Shelton (and others) performed there in July 2017 in the first ever concert at this venue… The 2017 concert was reported to have been limited to an attendance of 70K which was the most possible in the stadium seating configuration used at that time… Although the actual attendance was not revealed and was reportedly far lower, no doubt in part, to being scheduled outside of the academic year with many students simply not in town…
Brewers Fest at Beaver Stadium
The Hoppy Valley Brewers Fest was first held at Beaver Stadium on May 11, 2024… 76 breweries from around Pennsylvania and some nearby states set up tents on the field in the stadium for this PSU and area first… This was the weekend following Spring Semester graduation, so the students were mostly gone from campus which probably reduced concerns about underage drinking at the event… Several thousand beer fans (3K to 3500 was estimated/total official attendance was never made public) attended this “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 department fundraiser putting the stadium to use on non-football dates… Fans got to enter the field via the players gate in the south endzone… Food was available from some south endzone and on-field concessions… The event was sponsored by the Happy Valley Sports & Entertainment Alliance…
Due to the beginning of the 2027 Beaver Stadium renovations, the 2025 Hoppy Valley event was held July 19 in a parking lot next to Medlar Field (Baseball)… A 2026 event was scheduled for May 24 at Panzer Stadium (Lacrosse), but was cancelled May 1 due to poor advance ticket sales…
Nittany Notes:
What’s next for Beaver Stadium special events?
The two 2026 hockey games 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 plan, as well.
Future non-football & non-hockey sporting events at Beaver Stadium could theoretically also include Wrestling (which had been hinted at in 2025 but would need to be a season opening event in early November for weather reasons) or Women’s Volleyball (which is a fall sport and has been successfully staged at Nebraska’s football stadium).