Penn State football reported a revenue stream of $9.6 million in program, novelty, parking and concession sales for the 2022-23 fiscal year, a bump up from $7.82 million the year prior, according to the athletic department’s annual financial report released on Tuesday.
While the athletic department does not attribute the increase in revenue to any specific change, the reporting year does coincide with the decision to sell beer at Beaver Stadium starting in October of the 2022 season. Specifically the total was $9,610,869 up from $7,824,199 in 2021-22.
The most recently completed football campaign marks the first full year of alcohol sales at Beaver Stadium. Those figures will not be released until January or February of 2025 following the completion of the ongoing fiscal year which finishes in June. Whatever the combination of influences, the mark of $9.6 million is up from $6.5 million during the 2019-2020 year, the last season prior to COVID-19.
Alcohol sales in Beaver Stadium began Oct. 1, 2022 with the third home game of the season.
“Penn State Athletics is continuously looking for ways to provide additional amenities to fans to improve the game day experience,” the university said in a news release announcing the sales. “A 2021 Beaver Stadium Study suggested there was an ever-growing need to improve the fan experience and amenities in a historical venue such as Beaver Stadium — with one of those recommendations being the addition of the sale of alcohol in stadium.”
Penn State officials projected that beer sales for a full season would result in roughly $2.5 million in additional revenue. At the time, Beaver Stadium was the ninth Big Ten school to sell alcohol to the public. The decision also came after two home games at Beaver Stadium had already been completed.
