Penn State football student season tickets sell out in record time

University Park, Pa. -- The student section recognized by ESPN's College Gameday as the best in college football has turned heads again with a sellout of more than 21,000 season tickets today in a remarkable 59 minutes.

The unprecedented sale took place in record time, according to Bud Meredith, Director of Ticket Operations. The previous record was 13 days last year, using a combination of online sales and applications that were mailed to the ticket office.

The 21,000-plus student-season tickets are the second-largest number of student season tickets in college sports. Penn State made an additional 520 student season tickets available this year compared to 2006.

Penn State has approximately 90,000 season ticket holders overall, also among the largest in the nation.

The passionate, loyal and enthusiastic Penn State student section is a primary reason why Beaver Stadium is one of the nation's toughest venues for opposing teams. The Nittany Lions averaged 107,567 fans at home last season, second-highest in the nation, topped by an electric throng of 110,007 for the prime time clash with Michigan.

A recent attempt to move to a lottery format for student season tickets was met with student opposition that many believed was the most swift and comprehensive response to school policy in decades. A student rally ensued on the steps of Old Main to celebrate the reversal of the lottery to the previous first-come, first-served procedure.

The sale was moved from Penn State servers to Ticketmaster, which handles large demand, high profile on-line tickets sales on a daily basis.

Last month, Coach Joe Paterno sent a personal message to the students with their instructions. "You have a shot at being the best student section in the country again this year. Make sure that you and your friends who believe in Penn State Football are ready for the on-line sale. We need our best fans behind us.""

"It's nearly impossible to overestimate our students' passion for the game experience and their role with what happens on the field," said Greg Myford, Penn State Associate Athletic Director for Marketing and Communications.

Paterno's 42nd Penn State team returns 33 letterwinners and 15 starters for the 2007 season, which begins September 1 against Florida International in Beaver Stadium. The Nittany Lions have a blockbuster home schedule that includes five bowl teams from 2006: Notre Dame, (Sept. 8, 6 p.m., ESPN), Iowa (Oct. 6), Wisconsin (Oct. 13 - Homecoming, 3:30 p.m., ABC), Ohio State (Oct. 27, 8 p.m., ABC/ESPN/ESPN2) and Purdue (Nov. 3).

Anyone with questions or concerns is asked to email studenttickets@psu.edu.