Kraft

UNIVERSITY PARK — The question has been lingering ever since the temporary bleachers were built on the west side of West Shore Home Field at Beaver Stadium earlier this summer.

How sturdy, and how safe, is the structure? Penn State athletic director Pat Kraft put any concerns to rest on Tuesday.

“The structure is safe,” Kraft said.

Kraft also noted that InProduction, which is the company that installed the temporary bleachers, is the largest company that specializes in temporary seating and stage construction in the United States. The company has done work for the PGA Tour’s Waste Management Open, Formula One, the World Tennis Association, NASCAR, the Kentucky Derby, and many schools that have undergone similar constructions.

Penn State Athletics also put a video on social media early Tuesday that had offensive and defensive linemen going up to the west side bleachers to test its sturdiness.

“They are awesome seats,” Kraft said. “The view is spectacular from there. I get that there’s been a lot of fanfare around that.”

Many fans have brought up issues that could occur in the base of the temporary bleachers, such as a dropped phone or keys. There is space visible from the ground when viewing the bleachers from afar.

“It is not like a high school gym,” Kraft said. “For full disclosure, the space is not very big. I’m not going to say you’re not going to lose your keys or cell phone. What I will tell you is there’s no holes in the base. The floor is solid.”

Kraft said the overall construction project is in a really good spot and the project is being completed on time. He estimated that the project is probably in ‘the second quarter’ as it heads into this season.

“They’re still working through the year,” Kraft said. “We’ll stop construction on Thursday night and get ready for game day, but they’re going to keep working on the club level and the main concourse, bathrooms, concessions. All things on those levels.”

The official capacity for the 2025 season at Beaver Stadium is 106,304, just over 250 attendees lower than the normal capacity of 106,572.

New format leaked

Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti had plans of a 24 or 28-team field for the College Football Playoff leaked to the media recently.

This was different from other recent proposals that had a 16-team field in the future with 11 at-large bids.

Although Petitti’s idea is still a rough draft more so than a final product, Kraft is in favor of the format.

“It’s really early. I think it got out earlier than Tony wanted it to get out,” Kraft said. “Tony is very open with us. It’s an interesting concept.

“This is so early, but I do appreciate Tony’s creativity. My perspective, I like it.”

Go back to BCS?

The College Football Playoff has been selected by a committee since the 2014 season. There has been some ideas that it would make sense to go back to the Bowl Championship Series formulas, which was in existence from 1998-2013.

Kraft said there probably is no perfect system, but acknowledges that the committee has a tough job to do.

There’s also no specific way to judge different conferences. The Big Ten plays nine conference games, while the SEC plays eight. Notre Dame remains an independent, which makes the job even tougher.

“There’s all of these other factors that the committee has to judge,” Kraft said.

One of them is weather, which is different in all parts of the country.

“The Maryland game last year was freezing,” Kraft said. “I think it was colder than the SMU game. Go look at the temperatures in the SEC. It’s a different game. In weather like that, it just changes the way you play the game. It’s not an excuse. I’m a Big Ten football guy. But playing in 70-degree weather and playing in 10 degrees and wind blowing in your face is different.”