Penn State University’s Beaver Stadium will host its first-ever hockey game as the Nittany Lions play an outdoor doubleheader on Jan. 31, 2026, the school announced on Friday.
The men’s and women’s teams will play in a doubleheader at West Shore Home Field at Beaver Stadium. The men’s team faces Michigan State, a rivalry game against the two-time defending Big 10 tournament champion. The women’s team take on Robert Morris University, its rivals from the Atlantic Hockey America conference.
“This is a historic moment for Penn State Hockey, our fans and the entire Penn State community,” said Dr. Patrick Kraft, the school’s VP for intercollegiate athletics. “To bring the excitement of college hockey to Beaver Stadium is truly special.”
Ever since the NHL started playing annual outdoor games in 2008, hockey fans have clamored to have one played in the home of Penn State football — specifically, a game between the state rival Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins, who both have appeared in six outdoor games apiece.
The seating capacity for football at Beaver Stadium is over 106,000 fans. The record for NHL outdoor game attendance is 105,491 fans, set at the 2014 Winter Classic at Michigan Stadium between the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs. The NHL has considered holding an event at Beaver Stadium over the past 17 years. But it never committed a Winter Classic or Stadium Series to Penn State due to facility challenges and financial considerations.
Beaver Stadium has been undergoing a $700 million revitalization project, which continues through this college football season and is expected to be completed in 2027, a Penn State spokesperson tells ESPN. The NHL in interested in holding a Penguins vs. Flyers outdoor game at Beaver Stadium after that refurbishment is finished.
“We’d love to talk at some point about Penn State. We said, ‘make us aware of your timeline.’ By no means have we committed to them, though we always think it’s attractive,” Steve Mayer, president of NHL content and events, told ESPN in February.
Penn State began playing NCAA Division I college hockey in the 2012-13 season. In recent years, both programs have seen considerable success. The men’s team has made the NCAA tournament four times since 2017 and reached the Frozen Four for the first time last season, losing in the semifinals to Boston University. The women’s team has won its conference tournament and reached the NCAA tournament in three straight seasons.
The Penn State men’s team shocked the hockey world this offseason when 17-year-old phenom Gavin McKenna left Canadian junior hockey for the Nittany Lions. McKenna, a forward, is the consensus pick to go first overall in next summer’s NHL draft.
McKenna’s NIL money for attending Penn State is “in the ballpark” of $700,000, a source tells ESPN. To add a bit of intrigue to the Beaver Stadium game next season: Michigan State was the runner-up for McKenna’s NCAA commitment with an NIL offer of around $200,000 to $300,000, according to College Hockey Insider.
