The world of college football is rapidly changing, especially with NIL now a critical part of the game.
This is especially true at Penn State, where the university is playing catch-up in the race to compete with other schools nationwide on the NIL front.
Head coach James Franklin has been very vocal about where the university and football program are in their NIL journey. The university, and football program specifically, have been behind the curve. But thanks to athletic director Pat Kraft and plenty of people behind the scenes, Penn State is beginning to close that gap. However, there is plenty of work still to be done if the Nittany Lions want to catch up with the elites of the college football world.
Earlier this summer, in efforts to have a more direct and streamlined approach to the universities' NIL initiatives, Lions Legacy Club and Success With Honor, two separate NIL collectives, decided to merge forces to create one NIL collective, Happy Valley United.
"Both groups have been great supporters of our NIL efforts to date, but this merger was an important step in our ever-changing collegiate athletics landscape," Kraft said at the time of the merger. "It was imperative for these two powerful collectives to join forces to provide a large breadth of NIL opportunities for student-athletes in all 31 of our sports programs to continue to push us forward."
Then, earlier this month, Mercury, a college sports company co-founded by former Penn State tight end Adam Breneman, came to an agreement with Penn State Sports Property Partnership to launch an NIL-driven content network titled "State Media."
That partnership came with an initial six-figure NIL commitment as well. On top of fan and former player-driven content, State Media would also provide fans with "once-in-a-lifetime opportunities."
Last Friday, the first of opportunities took place with the "Beaver Stadium VIP Experience."
Happy Valley Insider was invited to tag along at the event, allowing us to see what State Media and the partnership between Mercury and Penn State will bring Penn State fans for the foreseeable future. The experience cost $299 per ticket and was open to the first 25 fans who signed up for the event. Each fan who signed up also got to bring a plus one to the event at no additional cost. Essentially, if you brought a guest with you, it was $150 per person.
The event included a tour of Beaver Stadium, an Q&A session with Adam Breneman and Christian Hackenberg, and an opportunity to see the Nittany Lions locker room. Attendees also got to run out the tunnel onto the field at Beaver Stadium as their names were announced over the PA system and catch passes from Breneman, Hackenberg, or their guest.
Both Breneman and Hackenberg were more than happy to answer questions throughout the approximately 2.5-hour event. Both also took time to talk to everyone as the event wound down, ensuring that attendees had a positive experience. Within each part of the tour, guests had, to a degree, the ability to roam as they liked, whether in the recruiting lounge, the media room, the Nittany Lions locker room, or on the field at Beaver Stadium.
"It was an experience of a lifetime for me," Michael Pietrangelo told Happy Valley Insider about his experience at the event. "I began being a fan of all things Penn State at nine years old when my older cousin Michael played on the men's hockey team from 1994 through 1998. A year later, Penn State won the '95 Rose Bowl, and I was forever hooked. Being able to get a close look at behind-the-scenes stuff and having access that normally isn't afforded to the general public was insane! Walking out of the tunnel, I got chills down my arms, and then hearing my name over the PA and seeing my name on the Jumbotron was indescribable at the moment. I was in complete and utter awe of the experience. Getting to meet Adam & and Christian running some routes and tossing the pigskin around was a childhood dream come true. If you love Penn State as much as I do, the Beaver Stadium VIP experience is where it's at."
"Yeah, it was an incredible day," Chris Henken of No Names All Game told Happy Valley Insider. "You know, it's an experience that I never thought I'd be able to have, but here I am on the field catching touchdown passes from Christian Hackenberg, getting coached up by Adam Breneman. It's every fan's dream, so it's been a really amazing day."
Dylan Dawson (aka PSU Dylan on Instagram) also attended the event.
"It was awesome; we got to go on the field, hang out with Hack and AB, throw a football around, talk to them. See the locker room, all that stuff; it was a lot of access. It's pretty cool to see all that," he said. Dylan also provided a great inside look at the event on TikTok and Instagram with narration below.
Both former Nittany Lions stars appeared to share fans' level of excitement throughout the experience. The pair did all they could to make fans feel like they were a part of the Penn State program.
"I think it's the start of a long relationship with Happy Valley United collective and doing this kind of event for fans," Breneman told Happy Valley Insider following the event. The cool part about NIL, these kinds of things, where fans get access to some things they haven't before, parts of the stadium, meeting former players, that's the fun part of me. Just supporting Penn State football, making our NIL program what I think it can be. I'm excited there's going to be a lot more to come, but I think from the fan's perspective, they got to see some cool parts of the stadium they haven't before, and I thought, overall, it was a great turnout," he added.
Hackenberg echoed those sentiments.
"Yeah, I thought it went well," he said. "The first one got to continue to build some momentum and figure things out, but really happy with the turnout. I think the State Media team did a great job organizing it. I think the fans had a blast based on the interactions I had. Again, it's just the start, but we'll see where it continues to go. I'm really excited about it."
Overall, Friday's 'Beaver Stadium NIL Experience' from State Media was a hit among fans, and it was a success in the eyes of State Media as well. It marks just the first of what is expected to be many similar experiences provided in the near future through State Media.
You can get all the latest up-to-date information on State Media, its content, and future fan experiences on X (Twitter).
This is especially true at Penn State, where the university is playing catch-up in the race to compete with other schools nationwide on the NIL front.
Head coach James Franklin has been very vocal about where the university and football program are in their NIL journey. The university, and football program specifically, have been behind the curve. But thanks to athletic director Pat Kraft and plenty of people behind the scenes, Penn State is beginning to close that gap. However, there is plenty of work still to be done if the Nittany Lions want to catch up with the elites of the college football world.
Earlier this summer, in efforts to have a more direct and streamlined approach to the universities' NIL initiatives, Lions Legacy Club and Success With Honor, two separate NIL collectives, decided to merge forces to create one NIL collective, Happy Valley United.
"Both groups have been great supporters of our NIL efforts to date, but this merger was an important step in our ever-changing collegiate athletics landscape," Kraft said at the time of the merger. "It was imperative for these two powerful collectives to join forces to provide a large breadth of NIL opportunities for student-athletes in all 31 of our sports programs to continue to push us forward."
Then, earlier this month, Mercury, a college sports company co-founded by former Penn State tight end Adam Breneman, came to an agreement with Penn State Sports Property Partnership to launch an NIL-driven content network titled "State Media."
That partnership came with an initial six-figure NIL commitment as well. On top of fan and former player-driven content, State Media would also provide fans with "once-in-a-lifetime opportunities."
Last Friday, the first of opportunities took place with the "Beaver Stadium VIP Experience."
Happy Valley Insider was invited to tag along at the event, allowing us to see what State Media and the partnership between Mercury and Penn State will bring Penn State fans for the foreseeable future. The experience cost $299 per ticket and was open to the first 25 fans who signed up for the event. Each fan who signed up also got to bring a plus one to the event at no additional cost. Essentially, if you brought a guest with you, it was $150 per person.
The event included a tour of Beaver Stadium, an Q&A session with Adam Breneman and Christian Hackenberg, and an opportunity to see the Nittany Lions locker room. Attendees also got to run out the tunnel onto the field at Beaver Stadium as their names were announced over the PA system and catch passes from Breneman, Hackenberg, or their guest.
Both Breneman and Hackenberg were more than happy to answer questions throughout the approximately 2.5-hour event. Both also took time to talk to everyone as the event wound down, ensuring that attendees had a positive experience. Within each part of the tour, guests had, to a degree, the ability to roam as they liked, whether in the recruiting lounge, the media room, the Nittany Lions locker room, or on the field at Beaver Stadium.
"It was an experience of a lifetime for me," Michael Pietrangelo told Happy Valley Insider about his experience at the event. "I began being a fan of all things Penn State at nine years old when my older cousin Michael played on the men's hockey team from 1994 through 1998. A year later, Penn State won the '95 Rose Bowl, and I was forever hooked. Being able to get a close look at behind-the-scenes stuff and having access that normally isn't afforded to the general public was insane! Walking out of the tunnel, I got chills down my arms, and then hearing my name over the PA and seeing my name on the Jumbotron was indescribable at the moment. I was in complete and utter awe of the experience. Getting to meet Adam & and Christian running some routes and tossing the pigskin around was a childhood dream come true. If you love Penn State as much as I do, the Beaver Stadium VIP experience is where it's at."
"Yeah, it was an incredible day," Chris Henken of No Names All Game told Happy Valley Insider. "You know, it's an experience that I never thought I'd be able to have, but here I am on the field catching touchdown passes from Christian Hackenberg, getting coached up by Adam Breneman. It's every fan's dream, so it's been a really amazing day."
Dylan Dawson (aka PSU Dylan on Instagram) also attended the event.
"It was awesome; we got to go on the field, hang out with Hack and AB, throw a football around, talk to them. See the locker room, all that stuff; it was a lot of access. It's pretty cool to see all that," he said. Dylan also provided a great inside look at the event on TikTok and Instagram with narration below.
Both former Nittany Lions stars appeared to share fans' level of excitement throughout the experience. The pair did all they could to make fans feel like they were a part of the Penn State program.
"I think it's the start of a long relationship with Happy Valley United collective and doing this kind of event for fans," Breneman told Happy Valley Insider following the event. The cool part about NIL, these kinds of things, where fans get access to some things they haven't before, parts of the stadium, meeting former players, that's the fun part of me. Just supporting Penn State football, making our NIL program what I think it can be. I'm excited there's going to be a lot more to come, but I think from the fan's perspective, they got to see some cool parts of the stadium they haven't before, and I thought, overall, it was a great turnout," he added.
Hackenberg echoed those sentiments.
"Yeah, I thought it went well," he said. "The first one got to continue to build some momentum and figure things out, but really happy with the turnout. I think the State Media team did a great job organizing it. I think the fans had a blast based on the interactions I had. Again, it's just the start, but we'll see where it continues to go. I'm really excited about it."
Overall, Friday's 'Beaver Stadium NIL Experience' from State Media was a hit among fans, and it was a success in the eyes of State Media as well. It marks just the first of what is expected to be many similar experiences provided in the near future through State Media.
You can get all the latest up-to-date information on State Media, its content, and future fan experiences on X (Twitter).
