For 65 years, Beaver Stadium has been serving as the home of the Penn State Football Team. But on Aug. 29, Penn State Ice Hockey announced that it will host its first-ever outdoor hockey games at Beaver Stadium. Both the men’s and women’s hockey teams will play a doubleheader on Jan. 31, 2026, with the men facing Big Ten rival Michigan State and the women playing against Robert Morris.
The announcement marks a major milestone for Penn State ice hockey, which has continued to grow in popularity since becoming a Division I program in 2012.
Last year was a breakout season for the men’s ice hockey team, which came to a close with the team falling to Boston University in the Frozen Four. This offseason, the team secured a commitment from Gavin McKenna, the projected No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. This recent success has generated a great deal of excitement within the Penn State community.
“I think with all the new players that we’re bringing in for this season, people are going to be really interested and are more likely to come because they’re excited, especially after our success from last year,” senior Madison Martin said.
Hopes of a potential outdoor game at Beaver Stadium had been swirling among fans for months before the announcement was made official on social media.
“I was super excited. I had heard, like, a rumor that we might have been doing it, but I didn’t really know if it was happening or not, so I was super, super excited when I found out,” Martin said.
Beaver Stadium is known across the country as one of the largest and loudest venues in college football, with a seating capacity of over 106,000 fans. Comparatively, Penn State ice hockey’s home, Pegula Ice Arena, only holds around 6,000 people. While not every seat will be open for the event, tens of thousands of fans are still expected to attend, creating one of the largest crowds in college hockey history.
“It would advertise how exciting hockey is. It will really put the spotlight on them,” sophomore Addison Miska said.
Besides the fact that central Pennsylvania provides an interesting market for hockey, the game is also seen as an opportunity to expand the program’s visibility on a national level.
“It was something that when you have a stadium as iconic as that, and you have a market in Pennsylvania, right in the middle of Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, you know, you have two extremely talented NHL teams, so you know the interest would be there. So obviously, really excited to be able to see something like that come here to Penn State,” Associate Principal Brett Wilson said. “Anytime you’re on a national stage and what they’re able to do and kind of what Penn State has been able to do to market their teams, it’ll raise them.”
With Penn State Hockey set to play this winter, the doubleheader represents more than a game; it’s a way to show how far it has come in over a decade. The chance to play in front of one of the largest crowds in college hockey history could become a memorable moment in Happy Valley.
