The Fiduciary Case for Paterno Field at Beaver Stadium
Goodwill is a balance sheet item.
On March 10th, 2025 the Penn State Board of Trustees met to vote on a proposed measure by the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics (ICA) to award Beaver Stadium naming rights to West Shore Home of Mechanicsburg, PA in exchange for approximately $3.3 million per year over 15 years. The total present value of the deal to Penn State is $25-$30 million.
Many trustees, including myself, were notified of this proposal the Friday night before the Monday morning meeting. No alternative options besides ‘West Shore Home Field’ were provided and no supporting financial analysis accompanied the proposal.
During the public meeting (watch recording here), Trustees Lubrano, McGloin, Brown, and myself questioned the utility of this proposal. In particular, Trustees Lubrano and McGloin provided strong arguments in support of naming the field Paterno Field at Beaver Stadium, in honor of Penn State coach Joe Paterno. Trustee Lubrano had introduced this option in February 2024 (read here), but at the request of Trustee Jay Paterno the discussion was tabled for another time (such as now).
During the meeting I raised the issue that we had not deliberated or considered any other options for monetizing naming rights, and suggested we postpone final vote on the measure until we had done so. To be clear, my concerns were directed to my Board colleagues and not to ICA Director Pat Kraft, because it’s the Board’s fiduciary duty to assure we are thoroughly evaluating and optimizing our options. Chair Kleppinger directed my concerns to ICA Director Kraft (who has no fiduciary duties to the university), who replied “This [the WSH agreement] is the only option before us”.
The final vote was 22 Yes – 8 No. Yes votes included Alumni Trustees Carl Nassib, Ali Kreiger, and Alumni Trustee candidate Kelley Lynch. No votes were Alumni Trustees Ted Brown, Anthony Lubrano, Jay Paterno, Matt McGloin, Brandon Short, myself, and Governor Appointees Suzan Collins and Dan Delligatti. Alumni Trustee Christa Hasenkopf was among six trustees who were not present at the meeting.
I am deeply unsettled by what I consider to be the failure of the University to even consider other options, including optimizing goodwill by leveraging one of our greatest assets, Joe Paterno. Let me explain the reasons for my concerns.
In May 2024, when the Board voted to approve $700 million (with a significant portion to be borrowed) for the Beaver Stadium renovation project, I voted No because I felt it was not fiscally reasonable and no other options were presented (read here). In the months since that vote, my apprehensions have been exacerbated in part by the continued explosive growth in Penn State Intercollegiate Athletics spending and the overall uncertainty in the collegiate sport landscape. All of these factors make optimizing the field naming revenue critical.
As a board, we are duty bound to set aside our personal interests and find the best option among those presented to us. I am not here to do the administration’s job, but as an example it is common knowledge that stadium naming rights carry a market valuation several multiples higher than field naming rights.
We also know that across college football, our peers have used goodwill to generate hundreds of millions of dollars annually through generous philanthropy. In the past, Penn State had enormous goodwill due in part to one man: Coach Joe Paterno. Joe has one of the highest name recognitions worldwide, and despite being the winningest coach in the history of college football, his off-the-field contributions are even more impactful. For decades Penn State was easily able to monetize Coach Paterno’s brand of ‘Success With Honor’.
As fiduciaries, we need to ask: how much goodwill could Paterno Field at Beaver Stadium generate?
From a financial standpoint, goodwill is an important balance sheet item that reflects the value of intangible assets over and above the fair market value of identifiable net assets, like buildings and cash on hand. Goodwill captures intangible factors like brand reputation, market position, and loyalty that aren’t separately measurable but contribute to future earnings. Goodwill is an asset because it’s expected to generate economic benefits, like generous gifts, endowments, and donations.
Trustee Lubrano has been asking for a valuation of the naming rights since 2022 but has never been provided with the information. No forward-looking projections can ever be concise to the specific dollar amount, but I have to agree with his assertion that it could yield significant long-term benefits. Based on discussions with Trustees Lubrano, Brown, and McGloin, I give great weight to their assertion that if Penn State had announced the naming of Paterno Field at Beaver Stadium, an immense amount of goodwill would have been created, leading to a sharp increase in philanthropic donations. I am at a loss to understand how ICA came to the conclusion that ‘West Shore Home Field’ will maximize long-term benefits better than ‘Paterno Field’.
During Monday’s meeting, Trustee Lubrano related an incident that makes me question whether the long-term fiscal impact of the field naming rights was the primary issue. In his statement, Trustee Lubrano related a conversation that took place at a meeting between Sue Paterno and Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi on May 24, 2024 (25:25 on the video):
Sue Paterno asked: “Do you intend to name the field at Beaver Stadium after Joe?”
Dr Bendapudi replied, “No.”
Sue Paterno then asked, “Why not?”
Dr Bendapudi said, “I don’t have the words to explain.”
It appears that as early as ten months ago, the option of ‘honoring our legacy’ by naming Paterno Field at Beaver Stadium was permanently off the table. The vote Monday was presented as ‘take it or leave it’, and judging by the negative reactions of alumni, fans, and stakeholders, our goodwill has plummeted even further.
Disconcerting, but not surprising.
Beaver Stadium should be renamed as Paterno Stadium. The board just casually names at their whimsy. Re- Food Sciences Building, not just the Creamery, should be Berkey, not Erickson. If the stadium were renamed, donors contributions would probably exceed the cost of the renovations ( which are probably going to exceed the original estimate).
Apparently there are two boards — one is the full board of directors, the other is a subset of board members that deliberate and decide action before convening the full board.