Why Washington for the Penn State White Out? Patrick Kraft Explains

The Penn State athletic director described the complex process that resulted in a Penn State-Washington White Out at Beaver Stadium.

The Penn State football team runs out onto the field to take on Auburn in a White Out game at Beaver Stadium. / Dan Rainville via Imagn Content

Like everyone else, Penn State Athletic Director Patrick Kraft lobbied for Ohio State as the 2024 Penn State White Out opponent. Then he got into the scheduling machinery, and the process became more complex. Ultimately, Penn State scheduled the Nov. 9 game against Washington for this season's White Out, a decision reached with input from television, the Big Ten and university stakeholders.

On Tuesday, Kraft said that he's working with Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti and the conference to make the process "a little bit more smooth" for the future.

"Trust me, I’d be lying to you if I said that James [Franklin], myself, our staff, everybody [wasn't] frustrated," Kraft told reporters in Indianapolis at Big Ten Football Media Days. "We were getting questions from everybody, and it's hard to be like, 'I don't even have an answer.'"

Penn State announced July 15 that it will host Washington for the 2024 White Out at Beaver Stadium. Kraft said Tuesday that a kickoff time, either 3:30 p.m. or in prime time, likely will remain on the six- or 12-day scheduling window. And though Penn State can accept that, it couldn't go much further into the summer without a defined date for what Kraft called the best "sporting event of the year."

So Kraft, speaking publicly to reporters for the first time since the announcement, explained the choice. Which, he said, really wasn't Penn State's choice.

"We don't land on any game [for the White Out]," Kraft said. "I think you all know what we would choose if were going to choose a White Out game. This year became a little more difficult because of the three networks and the 'draft' process."

FOX, CBS and NBC, which share the Big Ten media rights deal, conduct a preseason "draft" in which they select weeks for particular broadcasts. Mike Mulvihill, FOX Sports president of data and analytics, described the process on a recent edition of the "Joel Klatt Show." The Nov. 2 Big Ten schedule features two blockbuster games: Ohio State-Penn State and Oregon-Michigan.

Mulvihill covered a complex variety of factors with Klatt, including the potential advertising impact of the presidential election on which game FOX will broadcast. Ultimately, Mulvihill said, FOX traded its pick for the Nov. 2 date to another network, which has not announced which its broadcast plans.

Since Penn State could not guarantee that the Nov. 2 game against Ohio State would kick off at night, "that became a problem for us," Kraft said. Thus, Penn State went in another direction. Kraft said that Penn State considers a night White Out to be "critical," so the athletic department worked with FOX to assure that the Nov. 9 game against Washington would not begin at noon.

"We had to get something out," Kraft said regarding the White Out scheduling. "To Tony [Petitti's] credit, he understands the importance of that game for us and for our fans."

Kraft added that, after conversations with Petitti, he expects the White Out scheduling process "to get a little bit easier now." He also reminded fans that Penn State is opening the Big Ten schedule at home this season, ending an eight-year "tradition" of beginning the conference season on the road.

"Give me that one," Kraft joked with reporters. Watch Kraft's full media session here, courtesy of Blue-White Illustrated.

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Penn State on SI is the place for Penn State news, opinion and perspective on the SI.com network. Publisher Mark Wogenrich has covered Penn State for more than 20 years, tracking three coaching staffs, three Big Ten titles and a catalog of great stories. Follow him on X (or Twitter) @MarkWogenrich.