Over the last 64 years, media members have covered hundreds of Penn State football games at the longstanding press box at Beaver Stadium. But on Saturday, the press box was officially torn down as part of the ongoing renovations around the stadium set to conclude in 2027.
On Saturday morning, a group of fans and media members gathered outside Beaver Stadium in the Stadium West parking lot to see the demolition of the press box, which was completed around 8 A.M. EST.
One of the media members covering the demolition from the Stadium West parking lot, Mark Brennan of 247 Sports, posted a video of the moment the press box fell to the ground on X.
End of the line for the @PennStateFball Beaver Stadium press box. pic.twitter.com/iQmAa6iyAN
— Mark Brennan (@MarkXBrennan) January 4, 2025
Meanwhile, here is a video of an angle from inside Beaver Stadium posted on Penn State’s official YouTube channel.
The Penn State press box, which was moved from the old Beaver Field when Beaver Stadium was built in 1960, has long been regarded as one of the most outdated press boxes in all of college football, last being expanded in 1980.
A prime example of this came back in 2018 where the pipes in the press box froze in their regular-season finale against Maryland, which left media members without working bathrooms throughout the game.
As a result, the program spent $4.5 million last offseason to ensure that the entire stadium was “winterized” for a potential CFP game, which of course came this season against SMU.
With this in mind, a number of media members who had experience at the Beaver Stadium press box took to social media to share their excitement about the demolition.
“No more hitting my head on those beams,” wrote Steve Helwagen of 247 Sports.
No more hitting my head on those beams
— Steve Helwagen (@SteveHelwagen) January 4, 2025
“Long overdue. Worst in Big Ten,” wrote Tom Dienhart of On3 Sports.
Long overdue. Worst in Big Ten.
— Tom Dienhart (@TomDienhart1) January 4, 2025
“No more tripping on the weird bumps in the walkways and the goofy step over thing and the zig zags,” wrote Angelique Chengelis of The Detroit News. “Hope they kept the old pencil sharpener, though.”
No more tripping on the weird bumps in the walkways and the goofy step over thing and the zig zags. Hope they kept they old pencil sharpener, though
— angelique (@chengelis) January 4, 2025
The downside of these renovations is that media members will likely not have a designated press box for the 2025 season. It’s expected according to 247 Sports that there is not expected to be a new press box until the 2026 season.
But based on the litany of complaints from media members who have spent time in the Beaver Stadium press box over the years, it sure seems like these renovations will be an overwhelming positive for media members in the long run.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.