Deion Sanders' Colorado football program set to make history in season's first month
If the tinted sunglasses, the sparkling gold chains, the signature bold gold-lettered "Colorado" on a black hoodie, the center-of-attention Nike "Primes" and, the timeless main character suave of Deion Sanders don't leave you in awe of his "Prime Effect," his achievements should.
It was a season ago when Sanders swooped in and swept the CU fans off their feet. He's continuing the feat by walking into the 2024 season with a fresh benchmark: a never-done-before feature on all four giants of the sports broadcasting industry.
The Buffs are on ESPN/ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX, all in the same season.
8/29 vs. North Dakota State on ESPN/ABC.
9/7 at Nebraska on NBC.
9/14 at CSU on CBS.
9/21 vs. Baylor on FOX.
BuffStampede.com's Adam Munsterteiger relayed the unique history CU is making.
"This marks the 1st time in football history they will appear on all four major networks in the U.S. in the same season," he wrote on X.
The best part for these networks? It's the first four games of the season. Just an example of how big of a brand Sanders has turned himself into, despite the humiliating records and mean criticism.
First home game of the season against North Dakota State, and Deion Sanders set a new precedent with roughly 5.6 million viewers tuning in for the game on ESPN, averaging at 4.8 million viewers, the highest-ever recorded in ESPN for a Thursday Night opener in seven years.
Last season hit the viewership jackpot equally well, drawing an average of 7.2 million viewers, and selling out home game tickets after a long, long wait in Boulder. This season continued that streak, where home tickets were bought out within minutes of the website going live.
The 'Prime Effect' and how it became a revolution
A 51% jump in revenue generated through multimedia is just one of the tangible observations from Coach Prime's time in Boulder. Another one was five CU players snagging a spot in ESPN's top 25 watch CFB players' list. But the ripples of "Prime Effect" are far more than that.
The renewed zeal among the fans, not to mention the massive spike in the Black and Gold fandom witnessed over the past year, is a testament enough. The bars are having more footfall on game-day nights and people are buying more and more merchandise, as CBS Sports reported.
Heck, Boulder restaurants are naming burgers after flip targets on behalf of Deion Sanders and Co. The Buffs football program has reached a popularity that only a few multiple-time championship programs amassed after a toil of at least a decade.
But, and there's almost always a but after a massive list of milestones, the real question is how long will the program sustain on Deion Sanders' name alone? Their next clash against their in-state team CU State will be of high stakes, especially that they are coming off a disgraceful 28-10 loss against Nebraska.
One thing is sure,: it will break the previous season's record Rocky Mountain rivalry set for viewership of 9.3 million views, the fifth-highest ESPN ever recorded for a college football game.
Losing in front of such a huge viewership would be really shattering, Colorado needs this win.