Penn State football’s Beaver Stadium opens with changes, renovations. Here’s an in-person look

After an offseason that featured big changes — and even bigger plans — at Penn State’s Beaver Stadium, Nittany Lions fans finally got an opportunity Saturday to see it all in person.

Gates opened at 10 a.m., ahead of Saturday’s home opener against Bowling Green. And some features were immediately evident, such as the additional ribbon video boards on both the south end zone (upper deck) and the north end zone (field level), in addition to the stadium’s concession makeover.

More is to come. The university’s board of trustees approved $70 million in May 2023 partly to winterize the stadium, making sure it could withstand colder temperatures for a potential December home game for the College Football Playoff. And, in May, the trustees authorized up to $700 million to completely renovate the stadium by 2027.

The changes will eventually include more premium seating and a completely renovated west side of the stadium. But there are still plenty of changes at this early point. Here’s what we saw so far:

Gate F saw the most drastic changes to this point. An open-air 34,000-square-foot space greeted fans and offered them a place to eat, drink and chat. And new concessions were all around, thanks to Penn State’s newly announced partnership with Oak View Group (OVG) Hospitality.

As a result of that partnership, some new concession stands — such as one specializing in street tacos — have popped up. And others have rebranded to be more aligned with the university, such as renaming some generic concession stands “Lion Bites” and “Coaly’s Chicken.” (Coaly the mule was Penn State’s unofficial mascot before the Nittany Lion.)

Some concession stand favorites, such as the chicken fingers, didn’t see significant changes. But many others did. The burgers, which used to be frozen, are now fresh. And the hot dogs, which are all-beef, have been reportedly upgraded. (“Old Main Hot Dogs” are $6, a “Blitz Brat” is $7, and “State Nachos” are $7.)

OVG Hospitality has also added about 24 more grab-and-go locations that are similar to the self-checkouts that fans might see at Sheetz or Rutter’s. The hope is those locations can reduce the length of lines at other concession stands and make it easier for fans just looking to grab a quick drink or snack.

Besides the concessions, which were arguably the most noticeable change so far, Penn State also tweaked its gate entry process at Gates E and F so fans scan their tickets before reaching the magnetometers. The upper concourse areas in the corners of the stadium, around Gates A and E, also saw an expansion of about 15,050 square feet — along with additional restrooms and concession stands. And the WiFi has reportedly been improved after adding 135 new access points for the new stadium network known as “PSU Fan.”

Other changes were evident — but haven’t been implemented just yet. Four escalators, two each at Gates A and E, have the ability to transport as many as 8,000 fans per hour. But they will not be operational until the Illinois game Sept. 28. And a “super ribbon board,” one found on both sides of the south’s large video board, will not work until the Ohio State game on Nov. 2. (It was just blank/black against Bowling Green on Saturday.)

Penn State and Beaver Stadium are in for a lot of changes between now and 2027. But Saturday offered the first public look at what’s changed to this point — and what’s to come.