Saturday, May 2, 2026

Colorado Is Thriving On, Off Field One Game Into Coach Prime Era

  • Colorado is becoming perhaps the hottest ticket in college football.
  • The debut of Deion Sanders is giving a brighter spotlight to Colorado’s top stars.
Shedeur Sanders
Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

After an offseason of sensational hype and unprecedented financial boosts, the University of Colorado is just hitting the tip of the iceberg of Deion Sanders.

Saturday’s 45-42 upset of TCU in Fort Worth, Texas, has sent the already incredible Coach Prime phenomenon to another level. “Do you believe now?” Sanders asked a reporter after his debut as the Buffaloes’ head football coach.

The game set an attendance record for TCU — more than 53,000 fans packed into the school’s stadium, which has an official capacity of 46,000. And that just might become a trend this fall.

Ticket prices for Colorado’s home opener against Nebraska this coming Saturday were already soaring. Now, the cheapest ticket on StubHub to the sold-out game is more than $400. Just last week, that was the average resale ticket price for Colorado-Nebraska.

Fox, on hand to broadcast Sanders’ debut, will also show Colorado-Nebraska in its coveted “Big Noon Saturday” time slot this weekend.

Colorado Capitalizing

Two of Colorado’s biggest stars — quarterback Shedeur Sanders and two-way phenom Travis Hunter — have seen their odds to win this year’s Heisman trophy skyrocket, undoubtedly increasing their lucrative NIL potential as their national spotlight rises.

Sanders, the son of Coach Prime, currently has NIL deals with big-name brands like Gatorade, Mercedes-Benz, Under Armour, and Beats by Dre. Hunter was the first athlete to sign an NIL deal with the Michael Strahan Brand.

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