University Park, Pa. – The Nittany Lion Club has added more than 2,000 new members during the past six months, swelling its membership to an all-time high of more than 20,000 and counting.
The growth of the Nittany Lion Club in combination with the anticipation for the 2006 football season has pushed Penn State season ticket sales to the brink of 90,000.
Eric Miller, a May graduate in the Smeal College of Business Administration was the milestone 20,000th member to join the Nittany Lion Club. Miller, from Montgomery, Pa., will be the guest of the NLC for the Sept. 2 season opener against Akron, as he and a guest will watch the contest from the Nittany Lion Club Suite.
Members of the Nittany Lion Club make possible grant-in-aid support for many of Penn State\’s approximately 800 student-athletes and provide operational support for Penn State\’s comprehensive and successful 29-sport program, that features 15 men\’s and 14 women\’s teams.
The new Nittany Lion Club members have purchased in excess of 5,000 new season tickets for the 2006 campaign, Joe Paterno\’s 41st as head coach. Penn State students sold out their 21,000 season tickets in a record 13 days, bringing total season ticket sales to approximately 90,000. The total is the highest since 2001, the Nittany Lions\’ first season in an expanded Beaver Stadium, which has a capacity of 107,282, second-largest in the nation.
More than 98 percent of current season ticket holders are returning to Beaver Stadium this fall, the highest renewal rate since the 2001 campaign.
The pace of Nittany Lion Basketball student tickets also has accelerated heading into the 2006-07 season, already outpacing last year\’s student season ticket total by 28 percent. Student basketball tickets for both Nittany Lion and Lady Lion Basketball can be purchased on the same application as used for football and is accessible online at http://www.GoPSUsports.com.
Membership in the Student Nittany Lion Club has doubled and is at an all-time high. For just $25, full-time students can support Penn State student-athletes and begin earning points toward priority ticket status.
For information on joining the Nittany Lion Club or Student Nittany Lion Club, visit www.GoPSUsports.com and click on the Nittany Lion Club link or call 1-800-NITTANY or 865-9462 in the Centre Region.