Duke head coach Manny Diaz high fives students prior to the Blue Devils’ season opener against Elon on Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025, at Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham, N.C.
The News & Observer
Durham
Given the Thanksgiving holiday and with many Duke students out of town, Saturday’s football game between the Blue Devils and Wake Forest could draw a slim crowd to Wallace Wade Stadium.
Duke offered a solution to capitalize on this season’s on-field success: Let any fan become a Duke student for a day and attend the game for free.
The school announced a promotion Monday night where fans could sit in the student section at Wallace Wade Stadium for the final regular-season game. Parking also would be free.
By Tuesday, all 4,000 student tickets had been claimed, after an overnight surge of interest, the school said.
Duke’s move to engage the community is essentially revenue neutral, since the free tickets are in the student section where students would get them for free anyway.
The Duke promotion urged those student-for-a-day fans to “bring your energy” to the stadium for the 3:30 p.m. game. It will be senior day for the Blue Devils (6-5, 5-2 ACC), who became bowl eligible last week by beating rival North Carolina in Chapel Hill and are seeking a sixth ACC win.
“The senior class, this is their week, their senior day at Wallace Wade,” Duke coach Manny Diaz said Monday. “I told them (Sunday) night they’ve won 19 games in our league. And when you say ‘Duke’ that is the people. That is Aaron Hall, that is Sahmir Hagans, that is Justin Pickett, and I can go on and on about what they have accomplished in the last four years.”
Thanksgiving weekend home games have historically been a tough draw for Duke. The Blue Devils have played three home games on the Saturday after Thanksgiving this decade, with the announced attendance of 17,391 in 2021, 17,492 in 2022 and 17,639 in 2023. The actual attendance for those games appeared far lower.
Duke fans sit in the stands late in the second half of Georgia Tech’s 27-18 victory over Duke at Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham, N.C., Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025. Ethan Hyman ehyman@newsobserver.com
Duke clinched their fourth consecutive winning season and bowl trip with the win at UNC last Saturday. The Blue Devils averaged 8.1 wins per season over the past three years and have a chance to reach eight wins again this season.
Duke’s five-year home attendance average at the 35,018-seat Wallace Wade Stadium is 23,499 after averaging 26,183 last season. This year’s average attendance for the five home games thus far is 24,930.
Diaz said he was not sure how many players would be recognized on Saturday but is hoping they receive an appreciative reception and there will be a nice turnout. A victory over the Demon Deacons (8-3, 4-3 ACC) would give the Blue Devils a season sweep of their Big Four rivals after beating N.C. State and UNC.
The Blue Devils still have a miniscule chance of reaching the ACC championship game in Charlotte depending on a combination of several ACC outcomes Saturday.
“We didn’t even address it,” Diaz said of Duke’s chances. “So many moons have to align and stars, and the octopus has to choose the Duke helmet. We didn’t even bother with that.
“It doesn’t matter anyway. We’ve got to play a team that has eight wins, so that’s where our focus is.”
Chip Alexander
The News & Observer
In more than 40 years at The N&O, Chip Alexander has covered the N.C. State, UNC, Duke and East Carolina beats, and now is in his 15th season on the Carolina Hurricanes beat. Alexander, who has won numerous writing awards at the state and national level, covered the Hurricanes’ move to North Carolina in 1997 and was a part of The N&O’s coverage of the Canes’ 2006 Stanley Cup run.
