Attention Big Ten teams! Penn State’s Beaver Stadium just got louder.

Penn State is shifting the student section for the 2011 season, and Guido D’Elia, director for communications and branding for Penn State football, believes it will amplify the crowd noise to unprecedented levels. The new student section will sit perfectly behind the south end zone.

D’Elia told Onward State:

We expect the student section’s impact will be even greater. Concentrated in the south end zone, the unobstructed voices will reach the entire playing field.

Some students, seniors especially, are upset by the switch. The mid-field seats are traditionally for seniors, but now they are available for season ticket holders due to the seating change. Could it be a possible money-making scheme? I mean, the season ticket holding alumni are willing to fork over a couple more dollars than the poor students.

D’Elia disagrees. He truly believes this will only enhance the loud Beaver Stadium atmosphere. During the 2008 season, Penn State grad Andrew Barnard conducted studies inside the stadium to measure the actual crowd noise. The results were astonishing. When the opponents were on offense, noise levels reached 110 decibels, which Barnard described as standing next to a huge speaker at a rock concert.

Barnard is confident the switch will make it even LOUDER.

“We’re not going to let visiting teams get comfortable, and if you can’t get comfortable, you’re probably not going to perform,” said D’Elia.

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