It’s truly laughable to see how quickly the fair weather turned on Deion Sanders.
After swarming around Coach Prime and pumping him up the moment he landed in Boulder last December, bandwagoners did an abrupt about-face when the honeymoon phase faded and the program was revealed as a work in progress, which is what it always was. Remember, Colorado was 1-11 before Deion’s arrival, so expectations should have been tempered.
Instead, the media hype was so strong that it overshadowed the program’s reality. That’s what the media does. It seeks out the hot topic of the moment, milks it for all its worth and then abandons it like frozen concentrated orange juice in Trading Places.
Remember when ESPN launched a dedicated Miami Heat website, complete with its own staff to follow the Big Three after “The Decision” That’s the type of hype all parties involved created to cover Deion’s first year at Colorado.
And Deion delivered for all.
Colorado licensed merchandise sales surged 700%. The Buffaloes spring game, a normally meaningless contest, became a must-watch event for all, generating over 550,00 viewers for ESPN while packing in over 47,000 fans into Folsom Field to watch the game in person, resulting in a net profit of almost $200,000 for the university. Those are ridiculous numbers considering less than 2,000 fans showed up for the game last year.
The media booked Deion for every interview and behind-the-scenes segment possible. Amazon also joined in, greenlighting a second season of Coach Prime.
And then there’s Fox and ESPN.
In week 1, the Buffaloes upset TCU on the road, pulling in 7.26 million viewers and setting a record for Fox as its most-watched Week 1 Big Noon Saturday game in history.
Coach Prime did it again for Fox in week 2, delivering 8.73 million viewers in the Buffaloes win over Nebraska. Deadline reported it was “Fox’s best Pac-12 regular season game ever” and also the 10th most-watched college football game in Fox Sports’ history.
Then came week 3, where ESPN reaped the benefits of the coach Prime effect in the late-night, thrilling 2OT victory over Colorado State in a game that delivered a mind-blowing 9.3 million viewers, aided by East Coast fans which fought back sleep to watch the game’s exciting conclusion at almost 2:30am EST. It was the most-watched game of the season at the time (now second behind week 8’s Ohio St. vs Penn St game, which drew 9.96 million viewers on Fox) and ESPN’s fifth-largest regular season college football audience ever.
The momentum carried to week 4, where the Buffaloes traveled to Oregon to play the Ducks. Unfortunately for fans, the Buffs were spanked 42-6. But fortunately for Disney execs and their sponsors, the game delivered a whopping 10.03 million viewers, edging out Ohio State’s thrilling last-second primetime win over Notre Dame on NBC (9.98 million viewers).
But Deion’s first loss became the first stumbling stone for the team despite the ratings success they were having for the Pac-12 media partners.
Not only did the Buffs lose, but the blowback the program received carried racial undertones.
To his credit, Coach Prime didn’t even flinch.
“One thing that I can say honestly and candidly, you better get me right now,” exclaimed a smiling Sanders to the media after the beatdown by the Ducks. “This is the worst we’re going to be. You better get me right now.”
Unfortunately, Deion was incorrect about it being the worst the team would be, for the team has lost six of its last seven games and still has one final game left against Utah on November 25th.
But fortunately for Deion and the networks, many of those losses were close outside of the 56-14 destruction administered by Washington State last weekend.
Yet even in the losses Coach Prime delivered.
The Buffs’ game against USC, which Colorado almost came back and won, drew in 7.24 million viewers and was the most-watched game of the weekend. And the team’s week 9 loss against UCLA delivered 4.66 million viewers, good for the weekend’s third most-watched game overall.
But the overall enthusiasm for the program dissipated, fueled by the fair weather.
Post-game press conferences were no longer essential viewing. The media, which normally peppered Coach Prime with viral-leaning questions, appeared toned down as well. And the once strong “viewing as a family” element evaporated.
Some of this is expected as the top teams are in conference championship and CFP contention, so the attention has shifted to Georgia, Michigan, Ohio State, Washington and Florida State. Even James Madison, which was denied a waiver by the NCAA to become bowl eligible this season, got more attention than the once-popular Colorado Buffaloes this past weekend.
But what’s disappointing is how quickly the fair weather fan-fueled frenzy for Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes abated.
It was basically two months of cheering for Prime and then bam! On to the next.
It’s important to recognize, appreciate and celebrate what Deion Sanders has done in one season for Colorado. For a few months, Boulder became the epicenter of college football and the football team became must-see TV. And while the team is far from championship ready, it accomplished more in less than a year than what was expected.
Coach Prime battled through the critiques and fielded a program that boosted the futures of the players and the university.
Because of Deion Sanders, Colorado is a destination for top-tier talent. The program will also be joining the Big 12 next season and the stadium is receiving a much-needed upgrade.
So props to all of the loyal Deion fans who cheered, watched and supported the Buffaloes regardless of the outcome.
And to all the fair weather fans and outlets, we know we’ll see you back on your bandwagon next season.
