This past Friday, student football wristbands were available for pickup at the HUB from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. In the past, this has been an option for students who wish to skip the Gate A student section lines on game days.

But by the afternoon, the line to receive wristbands on Friday stretched from inside the HUB past Davey Lab. When entering the stadium on game day, many students found the regular Gate A line faster than the supposed “fast pass” line, with students waiting about 10 minutes to get into the stadium after waiting for extended periods on Friday.

Hundreds and hundreds of Penn State students in line from Davey Lab and into the HUB for student section wristbands for Saturday’s Nittany Lions’ football game vs. Marshall in Beaver Stadium pic.twitter.com/9QxZDeuGhl

— Mike Poorman (@PSUPoorman) September 4, 2026

Here were some of the more problematic issues that occurred with wristband distribution on Friday, and how this issue should be tackled in the future.

Location

Last year, wristband distribution happened in the HUB as well as outside Beaver Stadium. This allowed lines to move much faster when picking up wristbands, since there were multiple locations.

This year, the only location was the HUB, which is one reason the line was so incredibly long. Personally, I never waited more than 5 minutes for a wristband at the HUB last year. If a second location were added again, it would help control the student traffic that was caused.

Time

Wristbands can only be picked up from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the Friday before the game if you want to use the “fast pass” line. This gives 25,000+ students with tickets only 7 hours to receive their wristbands before the game.

While students aren’t required to pick up their band early, it is advertised as a “fast pass.” And if you are a student who’s been tailgating all day and will be standing for the entire game, faster entry sounds perfect. But with only one time slot available, students don’t have much choice about when they get their wristband.

The Line System

In my observation, this was the biggest issue, and it is one that could be managed best. The giant line that everyone saw was JUST for the white colored wristbands. On Friday, three different colored wristbands were given out: white, navy, and grey, each with its own assigned section within the stadium.

While white is the color most people wish for, as it is in the center of the student section, there were many people in the white line who did not know there was a difference. The white wristband line was out the door, while both navy and grey had almost no line the whole day. Once students were inside the HUB doors and saw the first indication of wristband signage, they began moving into those other sections, not realizing they could have done that all along.

I did happen to see a security guard who alerted some students to the different lines, mentioning that the navy and grey lines were much shorter. Yet he was the only one running around and informing students, and he couldn’t help everyone.

In the future, if more security guards help like this incredible gentleman, or if someone’s job is to inform students of the different lines, the waits should be much shorter. Or, they could provide proper signage so the students aren’t waiting an hour for something that they are unaware of.

Number of Workers

Let me preface by saying that every single individual I encountered who was working this was incredibly kind, understanding, patient, and efficient, and I put them at no fault for the chaos of the day. But only about three individuals were handing out the wristbands. Meanwhile, the line stretched down the block.

With so few people working, the line can only move so fast. If they increased the number of workers, the line would move faster. And to reiterate, I only saw a few security guards. If a few more were added, and the process and different lines were clearly communicated, that would also help shorten wait times.

Overall, this experience is still fairly new, so there is a lot of room for improvement. Yet I am still baffled by the drastic change from last year, with almost zero lines, to this year.

These amazing workers are doing what they can given the circumstances, and I hope this process can be close to perfect by the end of the season.