(10-11-2026 06:30 PM)schmolik Wrote: Big Nooner or White Out? Doesn't matter anymore!
![[Image: HUXXbhOXsAAlMGQ?format=jpg&name=medium]](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HUXXbhOXsAAlMGQ?format=jpg&name=medium)
They haven't even opened up the final tier of the new concourse yet, they're gonna claim Arirang festival numbers when they do.
FWIW, for those who don't follow the ins and outs of PSU attendance I'll give you a few factoids to keep in mind. We're currently upgrading our stadium by having ripped out a huge chunk of it and replaced it with a modern three-tiered section. Given that the new section is tiered chairs it should, in theory, lead to a capacity decrease. This would have went over like a lead balloon with fans, though, so instead they went through every nook and cranny possible and added in a few new small sections of seating to make up the difference. The net result has not yet been publicly revealed but the AD has claimed that they're going to aim to actually increase capacity and possibly beat Michigan by the end of the year when all seats are online. Unofficially, this will just be a one year thing and seating will likely return to "normal" levels next year when more bleachers are ripped out and replaced with seats.
But then we're not even there yet and have already increased attendance by 3 thousand? Hahaha, no. We cheat wildly. We'll count everyone visiting the stadium (which includes loads of people like recruits, media folks, VIPs, etc. for White Outs) as well as, presumably all tickets sold rather than tickets cashed at the gate. The actual butts in seats attendance record was likely set in the mid-to-late 2000s when students were still allowed to give or sell tickets to each other day-of with no online university component. That was added, IIRC, around 2009 or so as another way for the athletic department to suck even more money out of fans but came with the important caveat that no trades could take place in the last 24 hours before gametime. AKA if you got super drunk on Friday night and couldn't attend you could no longer give your ticket away. Following that point the last two or three rows of the student section have never been entirely filled, leading to attendance never quite getting to where it had been in the past.
For now this game will stand as the most attended college football game, possibly anywhere ever, despite it being a frankly embarrassing display by us and no Atlas lifting the world by USC either. But even if they really do reduce seat count next year and remove the possibility of out-doing this performance, they'll just lie and say they did anyway. We'll be at 117, 118, 120k!!!! soon enough.