Delaware Live56%
University of Delaware Football’s Unique Marketing Approach Draws National Attention to UD Football 37%
By Ryan Colasanti37%
7/29/2026, 11:42:34 AM
BS Summary: This article contains 28 faulty reasoning types, including Attempt to Sell a Product or Service, Post Hoc (False Cause), and Self-Serving Bias, with Optimism Bias as the most egregious example at 19.9% saturation with 201 hits. Analysis detected 1,271 faulty-reasoning hits from 1,009 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 38.3% and a BS Rank of 37% (16,147 of 25,293 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 63.80% of the article peer group.
The marketing team within University of Delaware Athletics’ Department is helping spread the Blue Hen brand with innovative initiatives like the one with EA Sports College Football video game.
When EA Sports brought back their College Football video game before the 2025 college football season, many around the country were ecstatic to have the popular title return after over a decade hiatus.
EA Sports College Football 25 was the second highest selling video game in 2024, according to an IGN article.
The momentum continued into EA Sports’ 2026 title.
That video game finished the year as the seventh highest seller in the United States, according to Statista .
The first game featured all 134 Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams available at their launch date of July 19, 2024, but left out two that were still in the midst of transitioning to college football’s highest level.
One of those transitioning teams was the University of Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens.
The Blue Hens officially transitioned to the FBS level almost a year later making it official on July 1, 2025.
The day signified a major step for UD athletics and provided the marketing team a new avenue to draw up interest in the FBS’ newest addition.
They were now one of 136 FBS teams featured in EA Sports College Football 26 video game.
“Being a storied FCS (Football Championship Subdivision) program that was making the jump to FBS was, you know, exciting as it was, but we wanted to try to add a little bit more to it to allow folks to really get excited for it,” said assistant athletic director Ed LeFurge III over the phone.
The marketing team created a unique promotion calling on video game players, Blue Hen fans, alumni and others to use the Blue Hens in the game’s “Dynasty” mode and win a National Championship.
Contestants had to submit a video of the virtual team lifting the championship trophy, screenshots of their final season results, a video of their own reaction to reaching the pinnacle of the digital sport along with an entry form.
The winner took home a prize that included on-field passes to a game and a “coaches gear prize pack.”
Your turn to build a Blue Hen Dynasty 🏆
🔗: https://t.co/4e6mgG8mba pic.twitter.com/X6GSjcV6qT
— Delaware Football (@Delaware_FB) July 10, 2025
The promotion was a hit amongst all College Football fans.
“I think it was, we had a good mix of people who kind of understood how to relate to college football fans,” LeFurge said.
“Overall our external team as a whole really just found this neat idea and we were fortunate that we were able to capitalize on it.”
The promotion drew in 235 submissions and represented players from 44 different states and two other countries outside of the United States, LeFurge said.
The promotion gained significant social media buzz and news outlets such as BleacherReport reported on the innovative promotion.
“We were fortunate that, you know, we got this challenge out there before anyone else did,” LeFurge said.
“And it kind of blew up a little bit on social media, went viral and we had people from all over the world, you know, submitting entries.”
The promotion’s success was an initial FBS win for the program.
The marketing initiative exposed the Blue Hen brand to a national — and international — audience before the team stepped foot on an FBS field for a nationally televised game.
The idea helped introduce the University of Delaware to the FBS audience and provided the football staff evidence of Delaware’s ability to generate national visibility to show potential recruits.
The promotion also helped the program financially.
The video game’s royalty structure was based on the amount of games played, so the promotion’s ability to entice players to play as the Blue Hens helped the program earn more revenue from the game.
Other FBS programs introduced similar challenges following UD’s initial offering — LeFurge said that Tulsa released a similar promotion in the days following their announcement of the “Delaware Football Dynasty Challenge” last season — and that’s carried into this year.
But, Delaware’s ability to be first in the space displayed a creative and innovative edge that’s important for a new FBS team breaking into the space.
“I think it’s incredibly imperative that you stay creative and you find ways to engage all sorts of different audiences,” LeFurge said.
“When you make the jump from FCS to FBS, you have the ability to draw in a larger audience because of the national visibility that comes with that.”
The football team did a strong job of garnering their own national attention on the field, finishing the season with seven wins and a bowl game victory over the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns at the 68 Ventures Bowl.
This year the Blue Hens will play in seven nationally televised games.
They will also have a new video game inspired marketing promotion to engage with fans.
This year’s challenge calls on players to win the Heisman Trophy as a member of the Blue Hens in the game’s “Road to Glory” mode.
The promotion began on July 6, and it will run through the end of September.
The official end date for submissions is October 1.
Last year it was the Dynasty Challenge, this year it’s the Road to Glory Challenge 🏆
Heisman as a Hen is here ‼️
📰: https://t.co/hposzHLbEX
Entry Form: https://t.co/ElSo3BbfoV
Official Sweepstakes and Contests Rules: https://t.co/xtvlxTaFX9 pic.twitter.com/wjWAD096Dt
— Delaware Football (@Delaware_FB) July 1, 2026
LeFurge said they’ve already received “a number of submissions” for this year’s challenge.
The grand prize winner will receive a “VIP Gameday experience” for the Blue Hens’ November 14 matchup against FIU.
“We really just wanted to, you know, allow people to continue to tap into the different game modes that EA has to offer and find unique ways to spotlight the Fightin’ Blue Hens,” LeFurge said.
To learn more about the challenge check out the University of Delaware Football website .
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