CSU Head Coach Jay Norvell played his part, too, calling Sanders out in a now-viral interview for his propensity to wear hats and sunglasses while speaking to players and media members.
“When I talk to grown-ups, I take my hat and my glasses off,” Norvell blasted. "That's what my mother taught me."
Sanders ran with the comments, mentioning them repeatedly in social media videos capturing the moment to promote his sunglasses partnership with Blenders Eyewear, which has so far netted him over $1.2 million in pre-order sales since hitting online shelves on September 15.
CU may have gotten the best of CSU on the gridiron — winning 43-35 after falling behind early in the game — but which school gets more bang for the buck with its football program?
In 2022, CU’s spending on its football program totaled $25.5 million, according to a July report from the Office of the State Auditor. Imagining that the budget is divided evenly between each of the school’s twelve games, CU spent just over $49,000 per point in this year’s Rocky Mountain Showdown — the first since 2019. The same calculation for CSU, which spent $30.9 million on its football program in 2022, reveals that the Mountain West Conference school spent a little over $73,500 per point in the game.
The state auditor's "Athletic Programs Financial Compilation" is based on the annual Statement of Revenues and Expenses each school must submit to the NCAA annually. According to that report, CU Football is one of only two athletics programs at public universities in the state that actually generates revenue. The other is the CU men’s basketball program.
In 2022, CU’s football program ran a $22.9 million surplus, while CSU’s football program ran an $11.7 million deficit, the report notes. Neither school’s overall athletics program generates more revenue than expenses, however. At CU, the athletics program ran at a $13 million deficit, while CSU athletics recorded a $28.2 million deficit.
“Self-supporting revenue is revenue earned through the activities of the athletic programs, including revenue from ticket sales,” the report explains.
That self-supporting revenue is how athletics programs offset expenses. Contributions like donations, ticket sales and other game-day items — such as parking, merchandise and media rights — make up the category.
All of these have a strong shot to be up for CU in 2023, with the school already selling out all of this year's home games for the first time in history.
“There’s so many different moments of being on sets and seeing the beautiful, wonderful fans all congregate together on campus,” Sanders said after the win over CSU. “It was electric today. I don’t know if some of you had the chance to witness it. I don’t know how it’s been in the past.”
After a year when the Buffaloes won just one game, notching three wins so far in 2023 — two at home — has been a much-welcomed rebound. “Colorado has been the focus of the sporting world to start the 2023 season, as the Deion 'Coach Prime' Sanders era gets underway,” the school said in a statement. “CU's first known sellout was in 1952 and the USC game will mark the 79th game in Folsom Field history that will be a sellout.”
Sellouts generate more revenue for the school, which CU will need after committing $29.5 million to Sanders's contract over the next five years. At the time he was hired, CU Athletic Director Rick George admitted the university didn’t really have the funds to give Coach Prime what it had promised.
“We don’t have the money yet, but I know we’ll have it, so I’m not worried about that piece,” he told the media.
It seems he was right.
Along with game-day revenue, CU's athletics donation numbers are up about $8 million from last year, according to school boosters. It is poised to rejoin the Big 12 Conference next year following qualms with the Pac-12 Conference over its media-rights deal and more.
In addition to donations and game-day revenue, schools can also earn cash through royalties from sponsorships and licensing agreements; CU is already making cash on Prime in that regard.
Sanders currently has a licensing agreement with the school that allows him to co-brand his catchphrases with CU intellectual property. As for the revenue from co-branded products, Sanders and the school split the dough after the manufacturer takes its cut.
Before the season even started, Coach Prime and the school had each made nearly $70,000 off such merch.
According to the state auditor report, expenses of athletics programs include direct overhead, coaching salaries, support-staff salaries and athletic student aid — along with game expenses, team travel and marketing.
Norvell’s five-year deal, which started in 2021 when he was hired, is worth $9 million compared to Sanders's nearly $30 million contract. However, Norvell’s salary has a higher base amount than Sanders’s at $1.8 million this year compared to Sanders’s $500,000. But Sanders will also earn $1.75 million from the school for his media appearances this year, nearly matching Norvell’s base.
In addition to that, Sanders also gets $1.75 million for assisting the athletics department with promotion and fundraising activities — and another $1.5 million for “development of the student-athlete," according to his contract.
Similarities between Sanders’s contract and Norvell’s come back into play on performance-based incentives: Norvell gets $25,000 for every conference win over four that CSU records, along with $50,000 per win after seven wins.
Sanders gets triple that, and stands to rake in $150,000 for every win starting at six.
Both coaches would get incentives for nabbing championships or winning a Coach of the Year award.
Norvell gets $3 million to hire assistants to Sanders’s $5 million.
Could Coach Prime's winning ways cover the extra cash invested by the university to again make CU Football one of the only profitable athletics programs in the state? The ball's in play.
