A blue flag with the outline of Louisiana hangs from a blue tent, a fleur-de-lis marking the northeastern corner of the state. A pot of jambalaya is somewhere nearby. Mardi Gras beads hang from necks, Hurricanes – like those from Pat O’Brien’s – are poured into cups and, somewhere in the crowd, Ben Thomason is wearing his cowboy hat, adorned with Mardi Gras beads and a blue Louisiana cutout reading “Bayou Blue Devil.”
It’s not Louisiana. It’s the Duke Blue Zone Collective Tailgate.
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But that’s exactly the point.
For Thomason, a Bastrop, Louisiana, native who earned his MBA from Duke and has worked at the university for the last 14 years, tailgating has always been about more than football. So in 2023, he planted a little piece of home in the parking lot outside Wallace Wade Stadium and called it Bayou Blue Devil.
The mission is simple.
“We want to bring Louisiana hospitality to the Duke tailgate scene,” Thomason told the Fayetteville Observer.
And this weekend, with Tulane coming to Wallace Wade Stadium for Duke’s season opener, Thomason’s Louisiana roots will feel especially at home. But the Bayou Blue Devil isn’t just for one Saturday. It’s Thomason’s way of bringing a piece of the culture he grew up with to Duke, one tailgate at a time.
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Meet the Bayou Blue Devil
Thomason’s hometown of Bastrop is roughly 160 miles north of Baton Rouge. That didn’t make LSU football any less important.
“It was a place where LSU football was a big deal and football in general was a big deal,” Thomason said. “Not only the football but the hospitality and tailgate scene.”
That’s what Thomason wanted to recreate at Duke.
“Growing up, people definitely cared about the football, but it was a whole event around the football,” he said. “Some people go to the tailgates and don’t even go to the game. So what would it look like to have more hospitality, more community on the Duke scene?”
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So Thomason, his wife Jennifer and daughters, Addie and Emily Jane, put the idea out simply: come, and bring whoever you want.
It grew from there.
Thomason joined forces with the Hard Hat Guys, Rocket Man, Section 17 podcast and the Boo crew. The group, now known as the Blue Zone Collective Tailgate, set up in the B-3 parking lot outside of Wallace Wade Stadium.
Everybody brings something different. The Hard Hat Guys handle breakfast, arriving as early 6 a.m. Rocket Man, who retro-fitted a rocket to incorporate a cooker, prepares lunch. Bayou Blue Devil and the Boo Crew specialize in beverages.
Tailgates are open to all, with donations not required but appreciated. Thomason refers those who contribute the “Krewe of Wallace Wade,” a further nod to his Louisiana roots.
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The goal, Thomason said, is for fans to move freely between the tailgates and experience the whole thing as one.
“It really is just about building community,” he said.
Part of the Blue Zone Collective Tailgate, with Bayou Blue Devil, Rocket Man, the Hard Hat Guys and Section 17 podcast.
The Louisiana twist
The Louisiana influence shows up everywhere – in the jambalaya, the Hurricanes and, of course, the Mardi Gras beads.
Thomason keeps a rotation of Duke-blue ones to hand out at the tailgate and toss around during the game, along with a personal stash of more decorative ones from Bourbon Street. He started a tradition of throwing beads into the student section between the third and fourth quarters, one he plans to continue.
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Bayou Blue Devil also borrows one of Mardi Gras’ central traditions: the Grand Marshal.
Each week, the group names a “Grand Guest” – someone who represents something about Duke or Duke football. The honoree wears a chain and signs the Bayou Blue Devil flag. Past Grand Guests have included Duke basketball players Kon Knueppel and Ryan Young and Duke athletic director Nina King – who also attended Tulane’s Law School.
This week’s Grand Guest offers another Louisiana connection: Willie Sheppard, the father of Duke running back Nate Sheppard. Willie played football at Louisiana Tech, and the Sheppard family, like Thomason, hails from Louisiana.
The ‘Bayou Blue Devil’ Ben Thomason and his wife, Jennifer at a Duke football game.
And while football is where Bayou Blue Devil began, it doesn’t stop there. Thomason brings it to Duke baseball and men’s and women’s basketball. The setup may change, but the idea – and Thomason’s Mardi Gras inspired attire – remain the same.
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For Thomason, it all comes back to the way he grew up, where football was about more than what happened between the lines.
It was food. It was hospitality. It was bringing people together.
A Cajun and Louisiana French phrase captures the spirit of Bayou Blue Devil: “Laissez les bons temps rouler.”
Let the good times roll.
And in the parking lot outside Wallace Wade Stadium, Thomason does just that.
Anna Snyder covers Duke for The Fayetteville Observer as part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at asnyder@usatodayco.com or follow her @annaesnydr on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Meet Duke football’s ‘Bayou Blue Devil’: A Louisiana twist on tailgating
