Colorado football's ‘Prime Effect’ hits new low for television ratings
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As Deion Sanders prepares for his fourth season as head coach of the Colorado Buffaloes, the "Prime Effect" has fallen to a new low.
Colorado football was once a top-tier television attraction, but the ratings have suffered a steep decline. There are several factors to this. It's no secret Sanders' team was less competitive last season. Enough so that Colorado games on ESPN fell by 67 percent in a three-year period from 2023 to 2025, according to Front Office Sports' Michael McCarthy.
When Sanders officially landed in Boulder ahead of the 2023 season, the hype was real. Every major media outlet wanted a piece of the action because a Hall of Fame player was coaching college football. However, after going 3-9 last year, the show has hit an intermission point. There is still interest, but not so much on a national level. Sanders gave college football a much-needed boost and brought a ton of notoriety to the sport. Everything was new with people from all sides wanting to see Sanders in action.
The 2024 season was the peak for Colorado football under Sanders. Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders led the Buffs to a 9-4 record despite suffering a 36-14 loss in the Alamo Bowl to BYU. Hunter won a Heisman Trophy right before facing the Cougars in San Antonio. He became the second player in program history to earn college football's most prestigious award. The dynamic two-way player followed the late Rashaan Salaam, who won the Heisman in 1994.
Colorado has struggled to regain the hype it once enjoyed. The wins haven't been impressive, and the Buffs ended last year on a five-game losing streak. It's no surprise Sanders is at this point.
This will be a pivotal year for him and the program to prove themselves on the national scene. Furthermore, Colorado hasn't won in the postseason in 22 years. Overall, the program is 1-7 in bowl games this century with the lone win coming in 2004 over UTEP in the Houston Bowl.
Sanders signed a five-year, $54 million extension following the 2024 season. At the time, he was the Big 12's highest-paid coach, and remains in the top 15 nationally. If there is no turnaround this season, Sanders' buyout clause states Colorado would owe him the remainder of his contract, which runs through 2029.
Colorado opens the season in Atlanta two weeks from now. The backend of a home-and-home agreement with Georgia Tech puts the Buffs in Sanders' old stomping grounds for the opener on Thursday, Sept. 3 (8 p.m. ET, ESPN).
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