Oasis on Ice

The 2014 Coaches Caravan kicked off at Pegula Ice Arena on May 1st.  

Yours truly was there.

I should have brought a stool or something to stand on!

I also ran into Carolyn Todd, another blogger.  She's a Penn State professor who has recently lost her husband to cancer.

And here I am taking a piece of coconut chicken.  My bowling buddies are at the table with me.

So what do I think?

I am really excited to get this season going.  The recruiting has been fun--still is--but it won't be anything compared to watching Coach Franklin lead his team onto the field September 6th in Beaver Stadium.

The main ceremony took place on a carpeted area on the ice rink.  

Franklin was joined by Russ Rose and Bob Warming.  Assistant coaches Brent Pry, Bob Shoop, Josh Gattis, and Charles Huff also mingled with the crowd of around 450 guests before hand.  Bob Shoop offered another buddy of mine and his son a chance to come to a practice sometime.  Coach Chambers was also there but did not speak in the main program.

Once again, Franklin got choked up talking about being the head coach of the Nittany Lions.  He has gotten choked up before.  Genuine emotion, or hamming it up for the crowd?  You decide.  I think it's for real, but I have been known to be wrong before.  It certainly sounds like this is his dream job.  

"For a lot of people, this is a job," Franklin said.  "This is personal for me.  This means the world to me.  For a guy growing up in the state of Pennsylvania to come back and be the head football coach at Penn State is unbelievably special."

"I love that the expectation here is for the head coach to be here for 80 years," Franklin joked.

And it was with a heavy heart, that I suddenly realized that I am probably older (and shorter) than all of the football coaches at Penn State now.  I've always been shorter.  I might have Spider Caldwell beat!

WE ARE . . . PENN STATE!

STEP UPDATE: Pi Day Edition

It's that time of year again!

Here are the numbers of available seats by section.  I have listed the past three years, but the delta (difference) is just comparing today to last year.  The totals at the bottom are a little screwy because the STEP level donations were changed to include $200 levels.  I also noticed that some levels in the virtual view are listed as donations of ZERO to $100 or $400.  I don't know what this means.  Are there seats available with no annual fee?  I do know they changed the single game pricing so that less marquee match-ups will be cheaper than better opponent match ups.  If any one knows why they list a possible $0 donation for some areas, make a comment and let us know.  Maybe it's just a glitch.

SECTION	Donation	Seats Available	Seats Available	Seats Available	Delta
		5/1/2012	3/31/2013	3/14/2014
WB	$400	246	262	275	13
WC	$400	22	70	85	15
WD	$600-2000	44	45	51	6
WE	$600-2000	5	3	15	12
WF	$600-2000	31	80	83	3
WG	$400	22	48	71	23
WH	$400	269	236	336	100
WJ	$100	16	41	33	-8
NA	$100	29	32	96	64
NB	$100	53	69	130	61
NC	$100	93	98	152	54
ND	$100	135	81	129	48
NE	$100	169	90	154	64
NF	$100	95	63	107	44
NG	$100	199	86	135	49
NH	$100	176	68	130	62
NJ	$100	209	80	167	87
NK	$100	225	76	184	108
NL	$100	73	66	170	104
EJ	$100	16	35	42	7
EH	$400	421	421	487	66
EG	$400	57	78	66	-12
EF	$600-2000	77	106	80	-26
EE	$600-2000	1	0	2	2
ED	$600-2000	108	77	110	33
EC	$400	87	102	93	-9
EB	$400	76	58	52	-6
WBU	$0-100	2	7	10	3
WCU	$200	573	554	379	-175
WDU	$400	712	696	642	-54
WEU	$600	336	345	408	63
WFU	$400	724	699	605	-94
WGU	$200	498	464	305	-159
WHU	$100	2	43	44	1
WJU	$100	61	57	227	170
NAU	$0-400	135	153	13	-140
NBU	$0-100	110	115	50	-65
NCU	$0-400	193	204	35	-169
NDU	$0-400	148	155	33	-122
NEU	$0-400	195	188	52	-136
NFU	$0-400	156	140	25	-115
NGU	$0-400	114	118	25	-93
NHU	$0-400	108	114	42	-72
NJU	$0-400	188	240	40	-200
NKU	VISITOR	0	0	0	0
NLU	$0-400	2	0	13	13
EJU	$100	301	97	425	328
EHU	$100	10	73	143	70
EGU	$200	1291	1274	1092	-182
EFU	$400	1000	955	899	-56
EEU	$600	870	745	753	8
EDU	$400	1406	1361	1280	-81
ECU	$200	1542	1477	1066	-411
EBU	$0-100	1	27	45	18
SAU	$100	53	173	12	-161
SBU	$100	185	209	16	-193
SCU	$100	189	204	252	48
SDU	$100	137	145	212	67
SEU	$100	54	39	77	38
SFU	$100	9	19	49	30
SGU	$100	31	29	76	47
SHU	$100	133	147	193	46
SJU	$100	141	162	6	-156
SKU	$100	167	138	211	73
SLU	$100	128	134	210	76
TOTAL		14859	14171	13400	-771	12%
100		4441	4015	3887	-128	29.01%
200				2842	2842	21.21%
400		5104	5044	5169	125	38.57%
600+		5314	5112	1502	-3610	11.21%

The percentage at the far right for the total number of seats available is compared to a stadium capacity of 107,282--i.e. 13,400 of 107,282 seats are available or 12% of the stadium.  In a similar manner, the percentages to the far right for each donation level are the percent of available seats for that level compared to the total seats available (13,400.)  So the number of $600+ seats available is 11.21% (1,502/13,400.)  The dramatic decrease in available 600+ levels is due to shifting of a large number of those available seats to other levels and probably doesn't mean an actual surge in purchases of high level seats.  If you look at WD-WF, there are actually 21 more seats available than previously.  But the new STEP levels converted a lot of empty $600 seats to $400, and then some of those $400 seats were shifted to $200, which were not categorized previously.

In the final analysis, there are 771 fewer seats available right now than there were in April of last year.

Ticket Sales Up

The following seat availability chart compares the seats listed on the Virtual Venue Website as being available last May, compared to today. 

There appears to be a net of 688 fewer seats available since last May, with relocation starting just this past week.

The percentages at the bottom are based on a stadium capacity of 107,282 seats--so there is 13% of the stadium seating still available.  There is a new $200 level seating this year, WCU, WGU, EGU, ECU. These numbers are still lumped in the $400 level in the totals.

SECTION	Donation	Seats Available	Seats Available	Delta
		5/1/2012	3/31/2013
WB	$400	246	262	16
WC	$400	22	70	48
WD	600-2000	44	45	1
WE	600-2000	5	3	-2
WF	600-2000	31	80	49
WG	$400	22	48	26
WH	$400	269	236	-33
WJ	$100	16	41	25
NA	$100	29	32	3
NB	$100	53	69	16
NC	$100	93	98	5
ND	$100	135	81	-54
NE	$100	169	90	-79
NF	$100	95	63	-32
NG	$100	199	86	-113
NH	$100	176	68	-108
NJ	$100	209	80	-129
NK	$100	225	76	-149
NL	$100	73	66	-7
EJ	$100	16	35	19
EH	$400	421	421	0
EG	$400	57	78	21
EF	600-2000	77	106	29
EE	600-2000	1	0	-1
ED	600-2000	108	77	-31
EC	$400	87	102	15
EB	$400	76	58	-18
WBU	$100	2	7	5
WCU	$200	573	554	-19
WDU	$600	712	696	-16
WEU	$600	336	345	9
WFU	$600	724	699	-25
WGU	$400	498	464	-34
WHU	$100	2	43	41
WJU	$100	61	57	-4
NAU	100-400	135	153	18
NBU	$100	110	115	5
NCU	100-400	193	204	11
NDU	100-400	148	155	7
NEU	100-400	195	188	-7
NFU	100-400	156	140	-16
NGU	100-400	114	118	4
NHU	100-400	108	114	6
NJU	100-400	188	240	52
NKU	$100	0	0	0
NLU	100-400	2	0	-2
EJU	$100	301	97	-204
EHU	$100	10	73	63
EGU	$200	1291	1274	-17
EFU	$400	1000	955	-45
EEU	$600	870	745	-125
EDU	$400	1406	1361	-45
ECU	$200	1542	1477	-65
EBU	$100	1	27	26
SAU	$100	53	173	120
SBU	$100	185	209	24
SCU	$100	189	204	15
SDU	$100	137	145	8
SEU	$100	54	39	-15
SFU	$100	9	19	10
SGU	$100	31	29	-2
SHU	$100	133	147	14
SJU	$100	141	162	21
SKU	$100	167	138	-29
SLU	$100	128	134	6
TOTAL		14859	14171	-688	13%
				0
100		4441	4015	-426	28.33%
200-400		5104	5044	-60	35.59%
600+		5314	5112	-202	36.07%

STEP UPDATE?

Okay.  So I was going to log on tonight and post what I thought might be the final STEP update of this season, but I can't seem to get to the virtual venue--the option to upgrade my seats is not there.  Either the process is over or I am no longer able to upgrade if I want to.

Is there anyone out there still waiting to pick seats?

Is the process over for this year?

There is a "marketing message" that states:

'Want Better Seats? Renew your existing seats and you will be prompted by the question, 'Do you want to upgrade your seats?' Answer the question and in a few week time you will receive an email instructing you how to upgrade your seats online'

It would appear then, that ticket holders will still be able to move around if not actually purchase more tickets before the season starts if I read that message correctly.

STEP UPDATE: MAY DAY EDITION

Got your updated seat availabilty right here.  More $100 seats going in the lower north endzone.  Slight shift from upper decks to lower bowl in general (more seats available in north and south upper decks.)

Overall decrease of 1,531 seats since the selection process opened.  512 seats gone since the last update (about 3.33% of the available seats.)  14% of the whole stadium still unsold.

Anyone know how many days left in the selection process???

SECTION	Donation	Seats Available	Seats Available	Seats Available	Seats Available	Seats Available	Delta
		6/8/2011	3/23/2012	4/19/2012	4/25/2012	5/1/2012
WB	$400	232	270	293	275	246	-29
WC	$400	25	159	30	30	22	-8
WD	600-2000	41	180	68	51	44	-7
WE	600-2000	12	9	6	5	5	0
WF	600-2000	37	200	60	43	31	-12
WG	$400	18	143	36	23	22	-1
WH	$400	302	339	383	323	269	-54
WJ	$100	6	131	19	17	16	-1
NA	$100	18	172	63	36	29	-7
NB	$100	38	200	141	109	53	-56
NC	$100	40	207	195	155	93	-62
ND	$100	36	171	169	149	135	-14
NE	$100	48	193	211	222	169	-53
NF	$100	17	178	161	145	95	-50
NG	$100	35	176	221	207	199	-8
NH	$100	30	167	229	232	176	-56
NJ	$100	35	208	264	225	209	-16
NK	$100	36	173	274	268	225	-43
NL	$100	39	207	202	140	73	-67
EJ	$100	14	101	26	23	16	-7
EH	$400	518	428	451	424	421	-3
EG	$400	60	165	86	71	57	-14
EF	600-2000	73	182	94	86	77	-9
EE	600-2000	0	1	1	1	1	0
ED	600-2000	389	249	130	120	108	-12
EC	$400	283	247	116	126	87	-39
EB	$400	148	108	76	87	76	-11
WBU	$100	0	30	0	0	2	2
WCU	$400	477	581	595	591	573	-18
WDU	$600	652	721	713	714	712	-2
WEU	$600	303	361	339	338	336	-2
WFU	$600	596	708	733	730	724	-6
WGU	$400	318	489	493	491	498	7
WHU	$100	1	102	4	2	2	0
WJU	$100	25	147	79	78	61	-17
NAU	100-400	48	111	99	113	135	22
NBU	$100	53	56	83	93	110	17
NCU	100-400	121	107	148	162	193	31
NDU	100-400	94	93	108	138	148	10
NEU	100-400	105	142	164	174	195	21
NFU	100-400	40	82	130	144	156	12
NGU	100-400	65	80	103	105	114	9
NHU	100-400	78	51	81	87	108	21
NJU	100-400	126	113	143	159	188	29
NKU	$100	1	0	0	0	0	0
NLU	100-400	1	8	2	2	2	0
EJU	$100	31	265	364	361	301	-60
EHU	$100	9	138	82	41	10	-31
EGU	$400	1067	1153	1274	1287	1291	4
EFU	$600	882	985	1013	1001	1000	-1
EEU	$600	762	877	875	867	870	3
EDU	$600	1444	1422	1410	1408	1406	-2
ECU	$400	1541	1526	1547	1548	1542	-6
EBU	$100	2	68	54	5	1	-4
SAU	$100	88	117	53	53	53	0
SBU	$100	154	100	137	157	185	28
SCU	$100	125	109	169	169	189	20
SDU	$100	106	119	134	124	137	13
SEU	$100	26	42	48	58	54	-4
SFU	$100	16	36	7	3	9	6
SGU	$100	17	57	43	33	31	-2
SHU	$100	87	118	128	127	133	6
SJU	$100	79	100	129	142	141	-1
SKU	$100	113	95	143	160	167	7
SLU	$100	101	117	109	113	128	15
TOTAL		12284	16390	15741	15371	14859	-1531	14%
100		2104	4887	4919	4731	4441	-446	29.89%
400		4989	5608	5380	5276	5104	-504	34.35%
600+		5191	5895	5442	5364	5314	-581	35.76%

STEP UPDATE: April 25th Edition

Here are the latest numbers on seat availability by sections.  There is an overall decrease of 1,019 seats since the process opened this year.  But there are still 3,087 more seats available than last June.  There is a continued shoft from upper deck levels to the lower bowl.  Every section in the north upper deck saw an increase (or no change) in available seats, as was true for most sections in the south upper deck.

Will someone please take that lonely seat in EE?

When I logged on tonight, TicketMaster said that my payment was due May 14th.  Does anyone know if the deadline was pushed back from May 1st?  If that's the case, I can probably do another update next week.

Are there still folks out there waiting to pick seats????

SECTION	Donation	Seats Available	Seats Available	Seats Available	Seats Available	Seats Available	Delta
		6/8/2011	3/23/2012	4/14/2012	4/19/2012	4/25/2012
WB	$400	232	270	318	293	275	-18
WC	$400	25	159	44	30	30	0
WD	600-2000	41	180	82	68	51	-17
WE	600-2000	12	9	6	6	5	-1
WF	600-2000	37	200	87	60	43	-17
WG	$400	18	143	40	36	23	-13
WH	$400	302	339	385	383	323	-60
WJ	$100	6	131	19	19	17	-2
NA	$100	18	172	97	63	36	-27
NB	$100	38	200	158	141	109	-32
NC	$100	40	207	229	195	155	-40
ND	$100	36	171	181	169	149	-20
NE	$100	48	193	234	211	222	11
NF	$100	17	178	183	161	145	-16
NG	$100	35	176	220	221	207	-14
NH	$100	30	167	220	229	232	3
NJ	$100	35	208	267	264	225	-39
NK	$100	36	173	267	274	268	-6
NL	$100	39	207	208	202	140	-62
EJ	$100	14	101	26	26	23	-3
EH	$400	518	428	451	451	424	-27
EG	$400	60	165	102	86	71	-15
EF	600-2000	73	182	126	94	86	-8
EE	600-2000	0	1	1	1	1	0
ED	600-2000	389	249	167	130	120	-10
EC	$400	283	247	137	116	126	10
EB	$400	148	108	73	76	87	11
WBU	$100	0	30	0	0	0	0
WCU	$400	477	581	583	595	591	-4
WDU	$600	652	721	713	713	714	1
WEU	$600	303	361	339	339	338	-1
WFU	$600	596	708	729	733	730	-3
WGU	$400	318	489	497	493	491	-2
WHU	$100	1	102	7	4	2	-2
WJU	$100	25	147	81	79	78	-1
NAU	100-400	48	111	90	99	113	14
NBU	$100	53	56	75	83	93	10
NCU	100-400	121	107	129	148	162	14
NDU	100-400	94	93	102	108	138	30
NEU	100-400	105	142	144	164	174	10
NFU	100-400	40	82	116	130	144	14
NGU	100-400	65	80	99	103	105	2
NHU	100-400	78	51	77	81	87	6
NJU	100-400	126	113	137	143	159	16
NKU	$100	1	0	0	0	0	0
NLU	100-400	1	8	2	2	2	0
EJU	$100	31	265	370	364	361	-3
EHU	$100	9	138	132	82	41	-41
EGU	$400	1067	1153	1242	1274	1287	13
EFU	$600	882	985	1012	1013	1001	-12
EEU	$600	762	877	865	875	867	-8
EDU	$600	1444	1422	1408	1410	1408	-2
ECU	$400	1541	1526	1548	1547	1548	1
EBU	$100	2	68	46	54	5	-49
SAU	$100	88	117	67	53	53	0
SBU	$100	154	100	131	137	157	20
SCU	$100	125	109	155	169	169	0
SDU	$100	106	119	126	134	124	-10
SEU	$100	26	42	40	48	58	10
SFU	$100	16	36	23	7	3	-4
SGU	$100	17	57	43	43	33	-10
SHU	$100	87	118	118	128	127	-1
SJU	$100	79	100	127	129	142	13
SKU	$100	113	95	145	143	160	17
SLU	$100	101	117	115	109	113	4
TOTAL		12284	16390	15961	15741	15371	-1019	15%
100		2104	4887	5006	4919	4731	-156	30.78%
400		4989	5608	5420	5380	5276	-332	34.32%
600+		5191	5895	5535	5442	5364	-531	34.90%

STEP Update: So You're Picking Friday Edition

I'll probably do another update over the weekend.

I also changed the bottom formula so that the delta reflects the number of seats that have changed since last June.  The delta at the top of the list is the change from the last update.  So 649 seats have moved off the available list from the nearly 4,000 extra seats we saw at the beginning of this year's selection process.

SECTION	Donation	Seats Available	Seats Available	Seats Available	Seats Available	Seats Available	Delta
		6/8/2011	3/23/2012	3/30/2012	4/14/2012	4/19/2012
WB	$400	232	270	275	318	293	-25
WC	$400	25	159	88	44	30	-14
WD	600-2000	41	180	145	82	68	-14
WE	600-2000	12	9	5	6	6	0
WF	600-2000	37	200	142	87	60	-27
WG	$400	18	143	106	40	36	-4
WH	$400	302	339	371	385	383	-2
WJ	$100	6	131	55	19	19	0
NA	$100	18	172	163	97	63	-34
NB	$100	38	200	195	158	141	-17
NC	$100	40	207	229	229	195	-34
ND	$100	36	171	189	181	169	-12
NE	$100	48	193	199	234	211	-23
NF	$100	17	178	181	183	161	-22
NG	$100	35	176	188	220	221	1
NH	$100	30	167	175	220	229	9
NJ	$100	35	208	216	267	264	-3
NK	$100	36	173	205	267	274	7
NL	$100	39	207	213	208	202	-6
EJ	$100	14	101	102	26	26	0
EH	$400	518	428	434	451	451	0
EG	$400	60	165	162	102	86	-16
EF	600-2000	73	182	134	126	94	-32
EE	600-2000	0	1	1	1	1	0
ED	600-2000	389	249	199	167	130	-37
EC	$400	283	247	247	137	116	-21
EB	$400	148	108	92	73	76	3
WBU	$100	0	30	8	0	0	0
WCU	$400	477	581	585	583	595	12
WDU	$600	652	721	727	713	713	0
WEU	$600	303	361	368	339	339	0
WFU	$600	596	708	723	729	733	4
WGU	$400	318	489	491	497	493	-4
WHU	$100	1	102	48	7	4	-3
WJU	$100	25	147	132	81	79	-2
NAU	100-400	48	111	93	90	99	9
NBU	$100	53	56	72	75	83	8
NCU	100-400	121	107	107	129	148	19
NDU	100-400	94	93	107	102	108	6
NEU	100-400	105	142	128	144	164	20
NFU	100-400	40	82	90	116	130	14
NGU	100-400	65	80	94	99	103	4
NHU	100-400	78	51	53	77	81	4
NJU	100-400	126	113	111	137	143	6
NKU	$100	1	0	0	0	0	0
NLU	100-400	1	8	4	2	2	0
EJU	$100	31	265	309	370	364	-6
EHU	$100	9	138	126	132	82	-50
EGU	$400	1067	1153	1198	1242	1274	32
EFU	$600	882	985	1011	1012	1013	1
EEU	$600	762	877	855	865	875	10
EDU	$600	1444	1422	1414	1408	1410	2
ECU	$400	1541	1526	1534	1548	1547	-1
EBU	$100	2	68	56	46	54	8
SAU	$100	88	117	115	67	53	-14
SBU	$100	154	100	110	131	137	6
SCU	$100	125	109	123	155	169	14
SDU	$100	106	119	129	126	134	8
SEU	$100	26	42	42	40	48	8
SFU	$100	16	36	28	23	7	-16
SGU	$100	17	57	51	43	43	0
SHU	$100	87	118	122	118	128	10
SJU	$100	79	100	113	127	129	2
SKU	$100	113	95	99	145	143	-2
SLU	$100	101	117	117	115	109	-6
TOTAL		12284	16390	16204	15961	15741	-649	15%
100		2104	4887	4897	5006	4919	32	31.25%
400		4989	5608	5583	5420	5380	-228	34.18%
600+		5191	5895	5724	5535	5442	-453	34.57%

STEP UPDATE: Tax Day Edition

Here's an update on the available seats as of this weekend (Saturday.)  I may post one more update next week if any one is interested (hint hint . . . leave me a comment so that I know that somebody besides Carolyn Todd is even reading this crap), but I don't think I can access the venue after I pay for the tickets and the due date is May 1st.  If I don't hear from anyone in the comment section, I may just skip doing any more updates.

There is statistically no real change in the total number of available seats (15%) but the actual number dropped by 243 seats.  The trend is still toward people moving from $100 seats to better locations.  Tomorrow, NLC members with 2-99 points start the selection/relocation process, which I presume will include new NLC members who currently do not have season tickets but donated at least $100 to get two points, and will be selecting for the first time.

So here is the breakdown of available seats.  The delta value reprsents the difference from the current # of seats available to the number available at the last update.  A negative number means there are FEWER seats available in that section and a positive means there are more available in that section than before.

SECTION	Donation	Seats Available	Seats Available	Seats Available	Seats Available	Delta
		6/8/2011	3/23/2012	3/30/2012	4/14/2012
WB	$400	232	270	275	318	43
WC	$400	25	159	88	44	-44
WD	600-2000	41	180	145	82	-63
WE	600-2000	12	9	5	6	1
WF	600-2000	37	200	142	87	-55
WG	$400	18	143	106	40	-66
WH	$400	302	339	371	385	14
WJ	$100	6	131	55	19	-36
NA	$100	18	172	163	97	-66
NB	$100	38	200	195	158	-37
NC	$100	40	207	229	229	0
ND	$100	36	171	189	181	-8
NE	$100	48	193	199	234	35
NF	$100	17	178	181	183	2
NG	$100	35	176	188	220	32
NH	$100	30	167	175	220	45
NJ	$100	35	208	216	267	51
NK	$100	36	173	205	267	62
NL	$100	39	207	213	208	-5
EJ	$100	14	101	102	26	-76
EH	$400	518	428	434	451	17
EG	$400	60	165	162	102	-60
EF	600-2000	73	182	134	126	-8
EE	600-2000	0	1	1	1	0
ED	600-2000	389	249	199	167	-32
EC	$400	283	247	247	137	-110
EB	$400	148	108	92	73	-19
WBU	$100	0	30	8	0	-8
WCU	$400	477	581	585	583	-2
WDU	$600	652	721	727	713	-14
WEU	$600	303	361	368	339	-29
WFU	$600	596	708	723	729	6
WGU	$400	318	489	491	497	6
WHU	$100	1	102	48	7	-41
WJU	$100	25	147	132	81	-51
NAU	100-400	48	111	93	90	-3
NBU	$100	53	56	72	75	3
NCU	100-400	121	107	107	129	22
NDU	100-400	94	93	107	102	-5
NEU	100-400	105	142	128	144	16
NFU	100-400	40	82	90	116	26
NGU	100-400	65	80	94	99	5
NHU	100-400	78	51	53	77	24
NJU	100-400	126	113	111	137	26
NKU	$100	1	0	0	0	0
NLU	100-400	1	8	4	2	-2
EJU	$100	31	265	309	370	61
EHU	$100	9	138	126	132	6
EGU	$400	1067	1153	1198	1242	44
EFU	$600	882	985	1011	1012	1
EEU	$600	762	877	855	865	10
EDU	$600	1444	1422	1414	1408	-6
ECU	$400	1541	1526	1534	1548	14
EBU	$100	2	68	56	46	-10
SAU	$100	88	117	115	67	-48
SBU	$100	154	100	110	131	21
SCU	$100	125	109	123	155	32
SDU	$100	106	119	129	126	-3
SEU	$100	26	42	42	40	-2
SFU	$100	16	36	28	23	-5
SGU	$100	17	57	51	43	-8
SHU	$100	87	118	122	118	-4
SJU	$100	79	100	113	127	14
SKU	$100	113	95	99	145	46
SLU	$100	101	117	117	115	-2
TOTAL		12284	16390	16204	15961	-243	15%
100		2104	4887	4897	5006	109	31.36%
400		4989	5608	5583	5420	-163	33.96%
600+		5191	5895	5724	5535	-189	34.68%

STEP UPDATE: March 30

There are still 16,204 seats available as of tonight at 10PM.  There was little movement in the overall numbers this week, with a shift from lower donation levels to higher donation levels.  This is to be expected since only NLC members with a lot of points can pick right now.  They are the ones that presumably want to improve their seat location or add seats to their account, and can afford to do so.

 Anne Danahy of the Centre Daily Times writes that ticket sales are down slightly.

Assistant Athletic Director Greg Myford said the Nittany Lion Club membership is just above the 20,000 mark so far. In 2011, there were 22,474 members, up from 21,577 in 2010.

Overall donations are up by $900,000 compared with last year for a total of $16.3 million, Myford said.

They can sugar coat the numbers all they want, but the reality is that there are about 4,000 more tickets available right now than there were in June at the end of the selection process last year.  Four thousand seats were given up.  All ticket holders have the option of retaining their seats, so even if they plan on moving up or down, their seats would not currently be listed as available.  And any move of equal seats from one giving level to another, wouldn't change the total of available seats.  The only factors that could see that number decrease are if people decide to ADD seats to their current package, or new members who never had seats before choose later in the process.

You might think that $900,000 in higher donations would reflect a profit.  But if you do the math . . .  at $385 per seat for a season ticket, times 4000 empty seats . . .  that works out to $1.54 million dollars in lost revenue if those seats aren't sold.  And that doesn't include the extra donation level fees for those seats that are lost if they go unsold.  Obviously, for many of the more attractive games, e.g. Ohio State and Wisconsin, those seats will get sold individually with no problem, so the overall math is fuzzy at this point.

Anyway, here is the breakdown after a week of trading:

SECTION	Donation	Seats Available	Seats Available	Seats Available	Delta
		6/8/2011	3/23/2012	3/30/2012
WB	$400	232	270	275	5
WC	$400	25	159	88	-71
WD	600-2000	41	180	145	-35
WE	600-2000	12	9	5	-4
WF	600-2000	37	200	142	-58
WG	$400	18	143	106	-37
WH	$400	302	339	371	32
WJ	$100	6	131	55	-76
NA	$100	18	172	163	-9
NB	$100	38	200	195	-5
NC	$100	40	207	229	22
ND	$100	36	171	189	18
NE	$100	48	193	199	6
NF	$100	17	178	181	3
NG	$100	35	176	188	12
NH	$100	30	167	175	8
NJ	$100	35	208	216	8
NK	$100	36	173	205	32
NL	$100	39	207	213	6
EJ	$100	14	101	102	1
EH	$400	518	428	434	6
EG	$400	60	165	162	-3
EF	600-2000	73	182	134	-48
EE	600-2000	0	1	1	0
ED	600-2000	389	249	199	-50
EC	$400	283	247	247	0
EB	$400	148	108	92	-16
WBU	$100	0	30	8	-22
WCU	$400	477	581	585	4
WDU	$600	652	721	727	6
WEU	$600	303	361	368	7
WFU	$600	596	708	723	15
WGU	$400	318	489	491	2
WHU	$100	1	102	48	-54
WJU	$100	25	147	132	-15
NAU	100-400	48	111	93	-18
NBU	$100	53	56	72	16
NCU	100-400	121	107	107	0
NDU	100-400	94	93	107	14
NEU	100-400	105	142	128	-14
NFU	100-400	40	82	90	8
NGU	100-400	65	80	94	14
NHU	100-400	78	51	53	2
NJU	100-400	126	113	111	-2
NKU	$100	1	0	0	0
NLU	100-400	1	8	4	-4
EJU	$100	31	265	309	44
EHU	$100	9	138	126	-12
EGU	$400	1067	1153	1198	45
EFU	$600	882	985	1011	26
EEU	$600	762	877	855	-22
EDU	$600	1444	1422	1414	-8
ECU	$400	1541	1526	1534	8
EBU	$100	2	68	56	-12
SAU	$100	88	117	115	-2
SBU	$100	154	100	110	10
SCU	$100	125	109	123	14
SDU	$100	106	119	129	10
SEU	$100	26	42	42	0
SFU	$100	16	36	28	-8
SGU	$100	17	57	51	-6
SHU	$100	87	118	122	4
SJU	$100	79	100	113	13
SKU	$100	113	95	99	4
SLU	$100	101	117	117	0
TOTAL		12284	16390	16204	-186	15%
100		2104	4887	4897	10	30.22%
400		4989	5608	5583	-25	34.45%
600+		5191	5895	5724	-171	35.32%

STEP on up!

Today, I was able to log on to the virtual venue for the seat selection process for 2012.  There are about 4,100 more seats available today than last June.  In all, there are 16,390 seats available (15% of the stadium if you use 107,282 as the listed capacity for Joe Paterno Field at Beaver Stadium.)

So without further ado, since I appear to be all out of ado at the moment anyway . . .

SECTION	Donation	Seats Available	Seats Available	Delta
		6/8/2011	3/23/2012
WB	$400	232	270	38
WC	$400	25	159	134
WD	600-2000	41	180	139
WE	600-2000	12	9	-3
WF	600-2000	37	200	163
WG	$400	18	143	125
WH	$400	302	339	37
WJ	$100	6	131	125
NA	$100	18	172	154
NB	$100	38	200	162
NC	$100	40	207	167
ND	$100	36	171	135
NE	$100	48	193	145
NF	$100	17	178	161
NG	$100	35	176	141
NH	$100	30	167	137
NJ	$100	35	208	173
NK	$100	36	173	137
NL	$100	39	207	168
EJ	$100	14	101	87
EH	$400	518	428	-90
EG	$400	60	165	105
EF	600-2000	73	182	109
EE	600-2000	0	1	1
ED	600-2000	389	249	-140
EC	$400	283	247	-36
EB	$400	148	108	-40
WBU	$100	0	30	30
WCU	$400	477	581	104
WDU	$600	652	721	69
WEU	$600	303	361	58
WFU	$600	596	708	112
WGU	$400	318	489	171
WHU	$100	1	102	101
WJU	$100	25	147	122
NAU	100-400	48	111	63
NBU	$100	53	56	3
NCU	100-400	121	107	-14
NDU	100-400	94	93	-1
NEU	100-400	105	142	37
NFU	100-400	40	82	42
NGU	100-400	65	80	15
NHU	100-400	78	51	-27
NJU	100-400	126	113	-13
NKU	$100	1	0	-1
NLU	100-400	1	8	7
EJU	$100	31	265	234
EHU	$100	9	138	129
EGU	$400	1067	1153	86
EFU	$600	882	985	103
EEU	$600	762	877	115
EDU	$600	1444	1422	-22
ECU	$400	1541	1526	-15
EBU	$100	2	68	66
SAU	$100	88	117	29
SBU	$100	154	100	-54
SCU	$100	125	109	-16
SDU	$100	106	119	13
SEU	$100	26	42	16
SFU	$100	16	36	20
SGU	$100	17	57	40
SHU	$100	87	118	31
SJU	$100	79	100	21
SKU	$100	113	95	-18
SLU	$100	101	117	16
TOTAL		12284	16390	4106	15%
100		2104	4887	2783	29.82%
400		4989	5608	619	34.22%
600+		5191	5895	704	35.97%

The last three perecentages are the ratio of seats in that category to the total number of seats available--not the total in the stadium, ie of the 16,390 available seats, about 36% of those are in the $600+ donation level.

Forever Penn State

Video from Penn State Nittany Lion Club.

STEP UPDATE - June 8

Thanks to info sent by Justin, here's how the STEP data looks as of 6-8-2011:

SECTION	Donation	Seats Available	Seats Available	Seats Available	Seats Available	Delta
		3/28/2011	4/19/2011	4/21/2011	6/8/2011
WB	$400	341	251	251	232	-109
WC	$400	156	25	25	25	-131
WD	600-2000	246	50	50	41	-205
WE	600-2000	14	11	11	12	-2
WF	600-2000	249	38	38	37	-212
WG	$400	134	18	16	18	-116
WH	$400	313	310	310	302	-11
WJ	$100	43	9	6	6	-37
NA	$100	46	29	21	18	-28
NB	$100	66	37	33	38	-28
NC	$100	43	48	39	40	-3
ND	$100	55	59	37	36	-19
NE	$100	75	86	53	48	-27
NF	$100	94	65	31	17	-77
NG	$100	41	84	44	35	-6
NH	$100	54	89	34	30	-24
NJ	$100	55	132	44	35	-20
NK	$100	45	90	34	36	-9
NL	$100	48	?	45	39	-9
EJ	$100	127	25	18	14	-113
EH	$400	552	519	519	518	-34
EG	$400	235	54	50	60	-175
EF	600-2000	248	60	60	73	-175
EE	600-2000	3	0	0	0	-3
ED	600-2000	1044	509	501	389	-655
EC	$400	1099	428	411	283	-816
EB	$400	72	174	174	148	76
WBU	$100	28	0	0	0	-28
WCU	$400	413	454	453	477	64
WDU	$600	691	627	629	652	-39
WEU	$600	353	289	289	303	-50
WFU	$600	617	593	593	596	-21
WGU	$400	343	327	327	318	-25
WHU	$100	61	2	1	1	-60
WJU	$100	28	27	23	25	-3
NAU	100-400	18	72	50	48	30
NBU	$100	29	59	45	53	24
NCU	100-400	44	137	121	121	77
NDU	100-400	26	105	92	94	68
NEU	100-400	54	109	107	105	51
NFU	100-400	34	70	56	40	6
NGU	100-400	22	63	63	65	43
NHU	100-400	15	76	70	78	63
NJU	100-400	23	144	126	126	103
NKU	$100	3	1	1	1	-2
NLU	100-400	20	1	1	1	-19
EJU	$100	78	77	33	31	-47
EHU	$100	96	5	3	9	-87
EGU	$400	750	1003	995	1067	317
EFU	$600	819	841	841	882	63
EEU	$600	694	709	709	762	68
EDU	$600	1486	1454	1454	1444	-42
ECU	$400	1458	1553	1553	1541	83
EBU	$100	8	5	3	2	-6
SAU	$100	19	34	20	88	69
SBU	$100	31	132	130	154	123
SCU	$100	26	105	111	125	99
SDU	$100	40	103	103	106	66
SEU	$100	32	25	23	26	-6
SFU	$100	16	18	14	16	0
SGU	$100	11	22	17	17	6
SHU	$100	15	91	81	87	72
SJU	$100	26	79	77	79	53
SKU	$100	22	114	104	113	91
SLU	$100	28	108	104	101	73
TOTAL		13975	12834	12277	12284	-1691	11%
100		1645	2537	2018	2104	459	17.13%
400		5866	5116	5084	4989	-877	40.61%
600+		6464	5181	5175	5191	-1273	42.26%

STEP UPDATE - 4/22

According to Christopher, here are the numbers as of 4pm on 4/21.  Is that the last day of downgrading?

If so, I hope they have a looooong waiting list for seats, because there is still about 11% of the total stadium capacity available (12,277 seats.)  The majority, 83%, are in the $400 plus levels.

For the non-marquee games, you are going to see a lot of empty seats in what used to be the senior and junior sections (esp. the upper level).  Of course, they hardly ever filled completely for those games anyway, but at least the students had paid for those seats.  Now you will have single game empty seats that no one is paying for.  Strike that.  Those who are paying higher premiums for seats are now paying for those empty seats.  Isn't greed a grand thing?  Thank you Penn State for STEPping all over the fans.  I do believe those higher fees will offset the unsold tickets and then some, so you needn't worry about paying the bills.

SECTION	Donation	Seats Available	Seats Available	Seats Available	Seats Available	Seats Available	Delta
		3/28/2011	4/1/2011	4/9/2011	4/19/2011	4/21/2011
WB	$400	341	368	276	251	251	-90
WC	$400	156	39	26	25	25	-131
WD	600-2000	246	109	57	50	50	-196
WE	600-2000	14	14	11	11	11	-3
WF	600-2000	249	94	50	38	38	-211
WG	$400	134	34	18	18	16	-118
WH	$400	313	402	340	310	310	-3
WJ	$100	43	14	16	9	6	-37
NA	$100	46	83	47	29	21	-25
NB	$100	66	86	77	37	33	-33
NC	$100	43	92	99	48	39	-4
ND	$100	55	61	69	59	37	-18
NE	$100	75	113	130	86	53	-22
NF	$100	94	108	121	65	31	-63
NG	$100	41	106	122	84	44	3
NH	$100	54	107	124	89	34	-20
NJ	$100	55	109	178	132	44	-11
NK	$100	45	71	207	90	34	-11
NL	$100	48	80	83	?	45	-3
EJ	$100	127	60	31	25	18	-109
EH	$400	552	608	559	519	519	-33
EG	$400	235	132	84	54	50	-185
EF	600-2000	248	96	64	60	60	-188
EE	600-2000	3	2	0	0	0	-3
ED	600-2000	1044	705	555	509	501	-543
EC	$400	1099	772	490	428	411	-688
EB	$400	72	148	172	174	174	102
WBU	$100	28	28	0	0	0	-28
WCU	$400	413	457	469	454	453	40
WDU	$600	691	655	633	627	629	-62
WEU	$600	353	296	284	289	289	-64
WFU	$600	617	625	599	593	593	-24
WGU	$400	343	365	333	327	327	-16
WHU	$100	61	38	2	2	1	-60
WJU	$100	28	101	35	27	23	-5
NAU	100-400	18	20	66	72	50	32
NBU	$100	29	57	61	59	45	16
NCU	100-400	44	79	137	137	121	77
NDU	100-400	26	71	118	105	92	66
NEU	100-400	54	90	133	109	107	53
NFU	100-400	34	50	86	70	56	22
NGU	100-400	22	38	79	63	63	41
NHU	100-400	15	32	84	76	70	55
NJU	100-400	23	71	162	144	126	103
NKU	$100	3	3	1	1	1	-2
NLU	100-400	20	1	1	1	1	-19
EJU	$100	78	189	229	77	33	-45
EHU	$100	96	110	13	5	3	-93
EGU	$400	750	974	995	1003	995	245
EFU	$600	819	863	841	841	841	22
EEU	$600	694	714	705	709	709	15
EDU	$600	1486	1466	1454	1454	1454	-32
ECU	$400	1458	1497	1559	1553	1553	95
EBU	$100	8	2	5	5	3	-5
SAU	$100	19	22	26	34	20	1
SBU	$100	31	63	130	132	130	99
SCU	$100	26	52	117	105	111	85
SDU	$100	40	76	97	103	103	63
SEU	$100	32	28	29	25	23	-9
SFU	$100	16	12	17	18	14	-2
SGU	$100	11	17	30	22	17	6
SHU	$100	15	43	83	91	81	66
SJU	$100	26	50	81	79	77	51
SKU	$100	22	61	116	114	104	82
SLU	$100	28	52	108	108	104	76
TOTAL		13975	13981	13924	12834	12277	-1698	11%
100		1645	2546	3350	2537	2018	373	16.44%
400		5866	5796	5321	5116	5084	-782	41.41%
600+		6464	5639	5253	5181	5175	-1289	42.15%