Penn State to Face Michigan State on Black Friday in Detroit

The Lions and Spartans will meet in a rare November prime-time game to close the regular season.

Raj Mehta/USA Today Sports

Penn State will close the 2023 regular season with not only a game on Black Friday but also one at a neutral site in prime time. The programs announced that the Penn State-Michigan State game will take place Nov. 24 at Ford Field in Detroit. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC, marking the latest bit of creative scheduling in the Big Ten's new media rights deal.

Penn State has played Black Friday games before, notably against Pitt in the 1970s and 80s, though those games were preceded with bye weeks. This time, the Lions will close the regular season with a short-week road game to face the Spartans. They get some relief by playing at a neutral site instead of at Spartan Stadium. Meanwhile, Michigan State is billing the game as an opportunity to celebrate high school, college and professional football in the state.

The Detroit Lions will host Green Bay in their annual Thanksgiving Day game, and the Penn State-Michigan State will follow Friday night. The Michigan High School Athletic Association shifted its state-championship games to Saturday and Sunday to accommodate the Penn State-Michigan State game.

Michigan State said the Big Ten approached it about shifting the Penn State-Michigan State game to Friday at Ford Field. In a statement, Michigan State Athletic Director Alan Haller called the game a "unique opportunity."

"Southeast Michigan is home to 100,000 alums, nearly 50 percent of our student body and countless more Spartan fans," Haller said in a statement. "Our men's basketball team has experienced tremendous support in Detroit, both at Ford Field and Little Caesars Arena, and we're excited to bring Spartan Football to our fans in the Motor City. The city is important to our mission not only as an athletic department, but our entire University. We anticipate that the experience will be so much more than a football game for our Spartan faithful.

"The decision to move a home game out of Spartan Stadium was given careful consideration, as we understand the impact it will have on some fans. As a community partner, we recognize home football brings benefits to the entire mid-Michigan area. The fact that this game falls on a holiday weekend Friday increased our willingness make the move."

In a statement, Michigan State coach Mel Tucker said he was looking forward to fans "creating a loud atmosphere and giving us a home-field advantage at Ford Field." Michigan State also issued statements from the Detroit Lions and Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti.

"The Big Ten Conference is thrilled that Michigan State will be hosting Penn State at Ford Field in prime time on NBC," Petitti said. "We are incredibly grateful for the collaboration between our member institutions, broadcast partners, Ford Field and the Detroit Lions to provide this unique opportunity and incredible exposure for our student-athletes on Black Friday."

The game marks at least the third in prime time for Penn State this season. Here's a look at Penn State's updated 2023 football schedule.

Penn State 2023 Football Schedule

(Home games in caps)

Sept. 2: WEST VIRGINIA (7:30 p.m. ET on NBC)

Sept. 9: DELAWARE

Sept. 16: at Illinois

Sept. 23: IOWA (8 p.m. ET on CBS)

Sept. 30: at Northwestern

Oct. 7: Bye

Oct. 14: MASSACHUSETTS

Oct. 21: at Ohio State

Oct. 28: INDIANA

Nov. 4: at Maryland

Nov. 11: MICHIGAN

Nov. 18: RUTGERS

Nov. 24: vs. Michigan State at Ford Field (7:30 p.m. ET on NBC)

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