Deion Sanders Aka Coach Prime’s New Deal Will Be $100 Million Plus

Forbes Business SportsMoney Deion Sanders Aka Coach Prime’s New Deal Will Be $100 Million Plus Leonard Armato Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. I transform brands in sports with bespoke strategy, technology & web3. Following Oct 2, 2023, 08:15pm EDT | Press play to listen to this article! Got it! Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin I traveled to Boulder Colorado to witness first-hand the power and influence of Deion Sanders aka Coach Prime in his role as head football coach of the Colorado Buffaloes (CU).

To call Sanders a coach is far too limiting as I learned during my visit. He is literally a force of nature mesmerizing everyone in his path. FORT WORTH, TX – SEPTEMBER 2: Head coach Deion Sanders of the Colorado Buffaloes (Photo by Ron .

. . [+] Jenkins/Getty Images) Getty Images He just lost two games in a row by a combined score of 90-47 and guess what? Colorado needs to tear up his agreement and give him the biggest package ever awarded a coach in the history of college football— and there is ample justification to do so.

Here is why. I had previously written about the newfound power of college football coaches and how Sanders was ushering in the era of the charismatic coach. But I had vastly underestimated his influence, not so much in college football, but his influence on the university, his influence on the media, his influence on commerce, his influence on the Boulder economy— and his influence on culture.

When I arrived in Boulder there was an electricity and energy that spread throughout the entire city and among the fans of the program with its epicenter at Folsom field on the CU campus . It is what locals call The “Prime Effect”. I saw Fox Sport’s Big Noon pre-game television program on location at CU campus broadcasting live.

People were going nuts. It was the third week in a row a network had chosen to go live from the CU campus. The ratings for both those shows and the game itself have been off the charts.

Over 10 Million people watched Oregon shellac CU the week before. When I walked down on the field before the game I mingled with a host of celebrities who had flown in to Boulder to be a part of Coach Prime’s spectacle. This was previously unheard of at CU.

Moreover, local tourism has boomed to unprecedented levels, invigorating tailgates and sports bars and hotels – projecting over $100 million of local economic impact across six home games, according to Boulder mayor Aaron Brockett. And for the first time in school history, Colorado has sold out every home football game this season. A lot of people thought the train would come off the tracks when CU lost its first game.

After they were crushed by Oregon 42-6, Coach Prime congratulated the Oregon team on the victory, noting that they were 3-1 and not satisfied. But then he warned the rest of the world: “you better get us now because this is the worst we are going to be”. Coach Prime’s post-game assessment spun things perfectly and almost made it seem like a tiny bump in the road.

Then following the 48-41 loss to USC last weekend Coach Prime didn’t miss a beat. After saying how proud he was of his team he said, “If you can’t see what’s coming with CU football, you’ve lost your mind… If you can’t see what’s going on and what’s going to transpire over the next several months, Something’s wrong with you. ” Despite these two losses, there is little evidence that the Prime Effect is slowing down.

There isn’t the least bit of a drop in enthusiasm among the CU faithful. I was in the CU merchandise store after the USC loss and it reminded me of black Friday, completely swarming with people in line to buy. There has been nearly a 1000% increase in sales since last year and September sales were up 2,544% over last September.

I spoke with CU booster Erik Rebich. He was effusive about the impact Sanders has had in the Boulder community: “I get asked about Coach Prime by people that never cared prior to his arrival. The economic impact for the school as well as the city of Boulder is unlike anything we’ve ever seen.

With the value he’s delivering to the school it seems reasonable that they make sure he’s here for a long time. ” So what should CU do? The answer is clear: tear up Coach Prime’s contract which is currently $6M per year for 5 years and immediately and sign him to a $100M+ 10 year deal. What’s another $70M when over the term of the agreement Sanders will likely drive over $1Billion in economic impact alone.

In fact, as part of his deal Sanders could also insist an NIL fund be set up alongside his agreement to ensure CU could compete with all the major schools in offering NIL benefits to all its players, not just the stars— not that he needs much help in recruiting. Whatever it takes, CU needs to lock up Coach Prime with a long term iron clad deal immediately and nip in the bud the very real possibility that he will be aggressively pursued and perhaps poached by another program in need of miraculous transformation. Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn .

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