Penn State Will Host a Spring Football Game, But it Won't be Televised

Penn State coach James Franklin detailed some modifications to the Blue-White Game, including no television coverage for the April 26 event.

Penn State head coach James Franklin watches during the Blue-White game at Beaver Stadium in April 2024. / Dan Rainville / USA TODAY NETWORK

Penn State will host a version of its annual spring Blue-White football in April, with more than few modifications. Most notably, the game will not be televised. So Penn State football fans who want to catch a spring glimpsse of the Nittany Lions have to visit Beaver Stadium on April 26.

As college football programs nationwide eliminate spring games, Franklin said that Penn State will host an adjusted version for a variety of reasons. The spring game goes far beyond football in State College, serving as a de facto offseason reunion for the program and fans. The university schedules events during the Penn State spring game, the athletic department fundraises around it and State College builds the game into annual revenue projections.

"I’ve been at Penn State now long enough to understand the impact that Penn State football has on this entire community, and I think everybody’s aware of that," Franklin said Monday before Penn State began spring practice. "There needs to be give and take with this. We need to work together. A successful Penn State football program helps everybody out: the bars, the restaurants, the hotels. So for me at any point to sit here and say that we’re not going to have a spring game, I don’t think that would make sense for a ton of reasons."

But more coaches and programs view full-contract spring football games as outdated, unnecessary, or potentially even harmful to their football teams for multiple reasons. One is the NCAA Transfer Portal, which will be open from April 16-25, coinciding with the end of most spring practice sessions, including Penn State's. Nebraska coach Matt Rhule spoke for many coaches when he said that holding a spring game during portal season could be counterproductive.

"The word 'tampering' doesn't exist anymore," Rhule said in February. "It's just an absolute free open common market. I don't necessarily want to open up to the outside world and have people watch our guys and say, 'He looks like a pretty good player. Let's go get him.'"

Franklin said that Penn State will not televise the Blue-White Game "for some of the reasons we’ve already discussed and you’ve heard other coaches maybe talk about," a reference to the portal window during which other teams could player-shop by watching spring games. Franklin further discussed modifying players' reps, shortening the game, limiting contact and skipping halftime. Some of this, particularly the modified contact periods, is consistent with what Penn State has done in previous spring games.

"I could see [the Blue-White Game] being maybe a little bit shorter," Franklin said. "One of the things that I don't think we'll do is a halftime, because there's been years where we'll have 75,000 people out there, we'd go to halftime for 20 minutes, and the parking lot [and tailgating] becomes more attractive than the second half."

Penn State also is dealing with a construction zone at Beaver Stadium, which is undergoing a $700 million renovation. Some programs, such as Florida State, are pausing spring games because of stadium construction. Penn State's decision not to televise the spring game is due in part to Beaver Stadium construction. Penn State Athletic Director Pat Kraft cautioned fans who attend the Blue-White Game to expect changes because of the construction.

"I'll just give everyone a heads up," Kraft said earlier this year. "The spring game is going to be a little interesting. And by interesting, I really don't know what it's going to look like."

On the field, Franklin said he still wants to scale back the Blue-White Game while still giving fans something compelling to watch.

"I know we have some real, real football people in our fan base that want to watch and evaluate our roster and get excited and have discussions at the barber shop or at the water jug," Franklin said. "I also think it's valuable for you guys [in the media]. So for all those reasons, we'll still do it, but it'll probably be a little bit less plays, and it'll probably be a little bit shorter amount of time. It also probably won't all be live. It will be a mixture of some live [game action] and some thud [non-tackling action].

"... But I want it to be enough that our fans feel like, 'Hey, I got a pretty good feel and idea of what Penn State football is going to look like.'"

The Penn State Blue-White Game kicks off at 2 p.m. ET on April 26 at Beaver Stadium.

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