How Happy Valley will be impacted if Penn State hosts a playoff game

UPDATE BY HVSEA December 9, 2024 — The Nittany Lions are set to compete in a home playoff game Saturday, December 21 against SMU. Kickoff will begin at noon in Beaver Stadium.

BY Tristan Klinefelter CENTRE COUNTY, PA. — December will be quite the busy month in Happy Valley if Penn State hosts a College Football Playoff Game at the end of the month.

Penn State Football is a gold mine for State College and much of Centre County. Home games draw thousands to the area and in turn, restaurants, bars and hotels fill up. Typically Penn State hosts around six or seven home games including the Blue & White game. This year with the extended college football playoff they may add one more.

“So to be able to host another one of those weekends means big business for Happy Valley,” Executive Director of Happy Valley Sports and Entertainment Alliance, Eric Engelbarts, said.

As fans pour into Happy Valley, hotel room rates rise and parking garages fill so much to a point that there is not enough room for everyone traveling in for the big game.

“There are a ton of people that come in, in fact, there’s more people than what we can, essentially hold here in Happy Valley. The compression becomes really, really tight,” Engelbarts said.

For businesses downtown, it’s an extra weekend of preparing. The weekend Penn State is set to host a playoff game is also the same weekend as fall graduation. This means that the number of visitors in the area is double the usual number. This also means businesses can only do one thing.

“We just stock up and get ready,” JR Mangan, Owner of Cafe 210, said.

Along College Ave., the Student Book Store is gearing up to set out merchandise they have never had before.

“We’ve had bowl games, we’ve been in the Big Ten Championship, but it’s never this kind of atmosphere,” Student Book Store Employee, Andy Rossi, said. “We’re working on if we have the game merchandise for the playoff teams and having more items geared towards the actual first-time playoff game.”

In talking to both businesses, they don’t really know what’s going to happen.