Jan. 12, 2010
By Lindsay Smith, Penn State Athletic Communications Student Assistant
They may not wear a team jersey; they may not be named All-American or have a number that will be commemorated in the NCAA Hall of Fame, but they do have one thing in common. These alumni, friends, corporations, parents and students have undying Penn State pride and through their annual support, they are all key players on the team behind the teams, the Nittany Lion Club.
The Nittany Lion Club, a group made up of financial supporters of Penn State Athletics, is responsible for partially funding of the 29 intercollegiate sports and the student athletes at Penn State University. Penn State Athletics must generate its own sufficient revenue as it receives no State or University funding.
The Athletic Department budget is around 90 million dollars, "The Nittany Lion Club is responsible for about 25 million dollars annually of that," Ken Cutler, Nittany Lion Club Director of Development said.
"Ultimately, everything we do supports the student athletes. From their scholarships to their medical care to their academic assistance, all aspects of their experience here are affected by contributions that people make," Cutler added.
The Nittany Lion Club has been a staple at Penn State since its inception in 1959 and currently boasts about 22,000 members. NLC members come from around the world; however there are three official local chapters.
"Currently, we have three chapters that are actual Nittany Lion Club chapters. One's the Central Pennsylvania Chapter which is kind of by the Harrisburg area. We also have our Delaware Valley Chapter which is the Philadelphia area and then we just recently established a New York City Nittany Lion Club Chapter," Assistant Director Nikki Potoczny said.
Beginning with the 2011 football season, all who purchase season tickets must be Nittany Lion Club members. These members will have to opportunity to retain, upgrade or relocate their tickets as a result of the recently announced Seat Equity and Transfer Plan (STEP).
The first phase of the STEP, ticket transfer, is a first-time, limited-time event during which current NLC members can transfer their season tickets to friends and family, who must be NLC members as well. The second phase of the program aligns a members' football seating option with their annual Nittany Lion Club contribution.
The minimum annual donation of a Nittany Lion Club season ticket holder will be determined by three factors. The first is the quantity of season tickets the donor is interested to purchase. The second determining factor is whether the donor would like additional benefits such as preferred or reserved parking, and the third factor is the desired location of the seats in the stadium.
The seating allocation change is primarily for financial reasons. "This was one of the only ways that we could think of to generate the kind of revenue on an annual basis that we felt that we needed to maintain the program and our competitiveness," Cutler said. "To remain competitive and be able to maintain that self-sufficient status, we had to look to increasing our revenues in the future."
While the new STEP does not necessarily mean a change in seat location for all current season ticket holders, it does mean a change for the student section ticket allotment, starting during the 2011 season. According to Cutler, the new seating plan will add about 800 seats to the student section.
"It's going to remove some sideline seats from the allotment but it's going to put almost all of them in the lower bowl of the south end zone. We think it's going to give them a greater impact, a more central impact on the game itself because all of the students are going to be covering the entire south end zone," Cutler added.
Students do not have to wait until graduation day to start supporting the Nittany Lion Club. Current Penn State students can get a head start on earning valuable points toward priority football and basketball seating while showing support and pride for their fellow Nittany Lion student athletes by joining the Student Nittany Lion Club. However, according to Nittany Lion Club Assistant Director Nikki Potoczny, only 600 of the approximate 22,000 members of the NLC are students.
"We really have a hard time with the Student Nittany Lion Club (SNLC) in getting our message out to them to join and how it's such a great deal. You get five points for 25 dollars when normally it would cost 250 dollars for those five points which they're paying 25 dollars for. It's really about looking into your future and creating possibilities now," Potoczny said.
A newly added feature, students are now able to join online. By going to the Online Giving section of the GoPSUsports.com website and putting Student Nittany Lion Club in the comment section, students can use a credit card to achieve membership.
"They are our future. They're our future ticket holders, they're our future donors, they're our future alumni who are going to be coming back, and we realize that. We really value them because of that," Potoczny said.
"We very much appreciate all of our donors," Cutler said. "We have the largest organization of its kind in the country in terms of number of donors. We always want to applaud the loyalty and generosity of our donors and thank them for the support of our program."