Dollar Dog Nights make a return to Medlar Field at Lubrano Park

For the third season in a row, the Penn State Nittany Lions are bringing back a fan-favorite: Dollar Dog Nights. These games see Penn State students and fans pack Medlar Field at Lubrano Park by the thousands on Tuesday nights during the spring.

From its attendance boost to its general buzz and its historical significance, here’s what you need to know about the best game promotion in sports.

Fans pack the ballpark like no other game

The Nittany Lions broke three (yes, three!) attendance records in back-to-back-to-back Tuesday games last season during Dollar Dog Nights. With 3,505 fans in attendance as Penn State played Pitt, supporters crushed that number two weeks later with 4,902 people during an FDU game that was scheduled the day before.

Despite a loss to Kent State, even more students and fans showed up as the number of people attending that game reached 5,025.

Those three games were the highest-attended Penn State home games last season, with the closest non-Dollar Dog Night being short by a number of 1,825 fans.

Fans are excited about Dollar Dog Nights

With high attendance numbers comes general buzz surrounding the team and the sport itself.

PSU Barstool, a trending account that covers all things Penn State on X, Instagram, and TikTok, helped grow engagement by asking students about the sport of baseball ahead of the game against Pitt last season:

Not only is the game interesting, but for some it’s also about the main event: all-American hot dogs for the low price of $1. Fans ate 6,151 hot dogs in the game against FDU last season, according to Tyler Millen.

8,591 hot dogs were consumed in the home midweek finale against Kent State last season, according to the Penn State Baseball account on X, shattering the previous record by over 2,000.

The historical success of Dollar Dog Nights

A famous example of this tasty promotion being successful in other places was at Citizens Bank Park with the Philadelphia Phillies. This promotion was so successful, however, that fans became rowdy and it was replaced with a “BOGO Night”, where fans could buy a hot dog at a normal price and get another one free.

The Pittsburgh Penguins, Philadelphia Flyers, and Houston Astros are all other good examples of the success of Dollar Dog Nights.

La Salle men’s basketball also runs this promotion, with their $5 meal deal including chips and a drink.

Dollar Dog Night 2025 schedule

According to the Penn State Baseball account on X, the Nittany Lions will host five Dollar Dog Nights.

These games will be on March 18 against Saint Bonaventure, March 25 against Pitt, April 1 against Bucknell, April 15 against Delaware, and April 22 against West Virginia.

All games start at 5:30 p.m. eastern standard time.

For all things Penn State baseball be sure to follow CommRadio insiders Anthony Desher (@Ranch_Deshing), Bryan Portney (@29Bport) and Daniel Studer (@DanielStuderPSU).

Bryan Portney is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email bep5295@psu.edu.