University of Colorado Boulder’s $3.2 billion Deion Sanders gamble falls off to embarrassing low

Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders is no longer leading the hottest act in college football. With CU at 3-7 this season and 16-19 overall in the “Prime Time” era, things have fallen off the rails.

As USA Today’s Brent Schrotenboer reports, the $3.2 billion highs in Boulder have evolved into the university being unsure of how to pay Coach Prime his five-year, $54 million contract extension.

Schrotenboer’s reporting came in the wake of AD Rick George’s stepping down as the athletic department’s head to be emeritus athletic director and special adviser to the university chancellor.

His main fair? Coach Prime potentially not having the same rapport with the new athletic director that he did with George.

“George made a big bet on Deion Sanders by hiring him in December 2022. That bet paid off at first, with a sold-out season in 2023 and $3.2 billion worth of media exposure for the school since then, as measured by Cision, CU’s media monitoring company,” Schrotenboer prefaced before saying, “George doubled down on the bet after the Buffaloes went 9-4 in 2024. In March, he gave Sanders a new five-year contract worth more than $10 million annually.

“But the Buffs took a step backward this year. They’re 3-7 heading into a bye weekend. And the school recently claimed it wasn’t sure where the money was going to come from to pay for Sanders’ new contract and $20.5 million in new player benefits this year.

“The new boss won’t be as personally invested in Sanders as George was, simply because the new boss didn’t make those hiring and contract decisions.

“And Sanders might not have the same special rapport he does with the new boss as he did with George. Sanders has said George was one of the biggest reasons he chose Colorado, where he had no previous ties.”

Will Coach Prime retain the same level of autonomy he has now under the new AD? That’ll be the defining question of the “Prime Time” era.

Colorado can either tailor its search around Coach Prime or find the guy who won’t take Sanders’ antics anymore.