Colorado generated $113 million in Deion Sanders’ first season, here’s how

Deion Sanders is a retired American professional football and baseball player who currently coaches at the University of Colorado. Before that, he was the coach of Jackson State University after signing a four-year deal worth $1.2 million.

One cannot undervalue the impact he has had on the University of Colorado or Boulder’s economy. For instance, his first home game against Nebraska generated almost $18 million for the region, according to Visit Boulder, The Convention and Visitors Bureau.

“They say the city made $18 million last weekend,” Coach Prime shared the numbers on his son’s YouTube channel last September.

Indeed, the University of Colorado Buffaloes and Coach Sanders helped the Boulder region economy generate $113.2 million from six home games during the Fall 2023 season, according to this report.

“I know what we doing… We’re bringing unity because when we out there on that field man we the Buffalo,” Sanders said on the podcast, “All The Smoke.” “We ain’t white. We ain’t Black. We ain’t Hispanic. We ain’t Asian. We just the Colorado Buffalo. They don’t see the color of my son or Travis [Hunter] or anybody else. They just see the Colorado Buffalo. 

He continued, “Now the objection for me is to make sure they continue seeing that when we off the field right, because you just seen the Colorado Buffalo when we on the field and everybody happy, packed the house. Everybody making money now. When we get outside the stadium let’s continue.”

In December 2022, Sanders signed a 5-year, $29.5 million contract to become the head coach of the University of Colorado football team. He and his Colorado team brought $17 million to Boulder’s economy in a single weekend in September 2023. Forbes said at the time that his presence is driving commerce, from tickets to hotel rooms and from celebrities to restaurants and merch.

“With Coach Prime, the Colorado Buffaloes aren’t just a football team; they mean something far more now. They symbolize something more than a geography or institution. They are now embodying everything Coach Prime himself stands for. Or, better said, they now symbolize what Coach Prime ‘stands in’ for: confidence,” Forbes reported.

The platform added that everything he associates himself with, becomes a success, including his sunglasses which he gifted to his players.

The USA Today in a publication described Sanders as the most famous college coach ever. He has been part of mainstream popular culture for 35 years, featuring in Pizza Hut, Pepsi, and Nike commercials in the early 1990s, according to the platform. Not only that, he has also appeared in rap music videos and hosted a Miss USA pageant.

All in all, USA Today attributes his success to maintaining cultural ubiquity, writing that the coach has not revealed much more about himself than what is necessary to fuel the Prime persona.

Sanders was a multisport star in high school before earning a scholarship to Florida State University, where he was a member of the school’s football, baseball, and track teams. With a reported net worth of $45 million, he became considered the only person to have played in both a Super Bowl and a World Series.