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Oregon Ducks Schedule: Wisconsin Badgers Game Gets Grateful Dead Twist At Autzen Stadium

The Oregon Ducks football team is hosting a "tie-dye out" for their game at Autzen Stadium against the Wisconsin Badgers to honor the iconic rock band, the Grateful Dead, which used to tour at the stadium between the 1970's and 1990's.
Ally Osborne|
Wisconsin football head coach Luke Fickell observes practice Wednesday, July 30, 2025, at Ralph E. Davis Pioneer Stadium in Platteville, Wisconsin.
Wisconsin football head coach Luke Fickell observes practice Wednesday, July 30, 2025, at Ralph E. Davis Pioneer Stadium in Platteville, Wisconsin. | Scott Ash / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Oregon DucksWisconsin Badgers

In a tribute to the iconic rock band, the Grateful Dead, the Oregon Ducks are enacting a tie-dye theme at Autzen Stadium for their October match-up against the Wisconsin Badgers and also debuted a potential new alternate logo for the event.

Wisconsin football Luke Fickell oregon ducks dan lanning autzen stadium schedule grateful dead fans mascot big ten
Jul 23, 2025; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Oregon head coach Dan Lanning speaks to the media during the Big Ten NCAA college football media days at Mandalay Bay Resort. Mandatory Credit: Lucas Peltier-Imagn Images | Lucas Peltier-Imagn Images

Currently celebrating the bands' 60th anniversary, the Grateful Dead performed at the Ducks' stadium 10 times between 1974 and 1994, with a tribute to that era happening in 2018 from Dead & Company, an off-shoot of the original group. The original band has played at the university more than 20 times, with their icons and tie-dye becoming synonymous with Eugene, Oregon's hippie culture.

The Ducks announced the tie-dye theme in an easter-egg riddled video posted to the @GoDucks "X" (formerly Twitter) account.

July 12, 1987; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; Jerry Garcia of The Grateful Dead plays in East Rutherford, NJ on July 12, 1987. Man
July 12, 1987; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; Jerry Garcia of The Grateful Dead plays in East Rutherford, NJ on July 12, 1987. Mandatory Credit: Danielle Richards/North Jersey Media Group via USA TODAY NETWORK | North Jersey Media Group-USA TODAY NETWORK

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The video starts with a magazine clipping of local Eugene newspaper, "Oregon Daily Emerald", with the headline "The Dead Pack 'Em in at Autzen", honoring the June 1978 performance at Autzen Stadium.

With soft guitar playing in the background reminiscent of Grateful Dead front man Jerry Garcia, the camera pans over a ticket to a Grateful Dead concert with Santana on June 25, 1978, several more newspaper clippings, a sticker of the Grateful Dead dancing bear accompanied by a dancing Oregon Duck in the same art style, a ticket for the band performing with Bob Dylan at Autzen among others, and a photo of former PAC-12 media personality and basketball star Bill Walton in a Grateful Dead Ducks t-shirt.

Finally, the camera lands on a calendar of 2025 with October 25, the date of Oregon's game against the Badgers, being enveloped in green tie dye.

At the end of the video, a new Oregon themed Grateful Dead logo flashes on screen. The design includes the bands' logo of a skull with an enlarged gead and lightning bolt but with a duck face and green and yellow colors. The inclusion of the logo at the end of the video insinuates that the image may be an important part of the Ducks' themed event.

An Oregon Duck themed Grateful Dead logo from @GoDucks on X.
An Oregon Duck themed Grateful Dead logo from @GoDucks on X. | @GoDucks on X

Class Trip, the designers behind several Grateful Dead and Ducks merged logos, is also releasing a new line of tie-dye apparel featuring new unique designs.

Fans have long been clammoring for a game theme honoring the rock legends. When the program released this video, many fans, and media members, came together to applaud the university.

With a newly announced theme also comes speculation around a potential new uniform. Though not confirmed the Ducks will get new threads for the tie-dye day, one of the designers behind Oregon's uniforms did comment, adding fuel to the rumor fire.

Quinn Horne of Van Horne Brands, the team essential to designing Oregon's 2024 "Generation O" uniform line, reposted the Ducks' video on the themed day with the hashtag "#keeponduckin" referring to the bands' "Keep on Trucking" motto.

According to GoDucks.com's post on the announcement, more information about the theme will be available closer to gameday on October 25.

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Ally Osborne
ALLY OSBORNE

A born and raised Oregonian, Ally Osborne has a passion for sporting events across her home state. She began writing for Oregon Ducks on SI in 2021. Currently a morning talk show host and sports reporter for KOIN 6 and Portland's CW in Portland, Oregon, Ally is engrained in her community. Finding and sharing stories that highlight the unique culture and connectivity sports creates is a part of her DNA. She frequently contributes sports content to KOIN's broadcast and streaming platforms while hosting talk show "Everyday Northwest" and video podcast "Tower Talk Live" every weekday. With Portland being her third-worked television market (second in Oregon), Osborne brings hard-news and feature-reporting experience to compliment her expertise for sports storytelling. Her journalistic endeavors and art creations (many of which are inspired by the Oregon Ducks) can be found on her social media pages. Ally graduated from the University of Oregon's School of Journalism and Communications in 2021 after interning for the Oregon Sports Network with experience working on live sporting broadcasts for ESPN, FOX Sports, the PAC 12 Network, and Runnerspace. 

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