In March, the Colorado Buffaloes and Deion Sanders agreed to a five-year contract extension worth $54 million, making him one of the highest-paid coaches in college football. After inheriting a program that went 1-11 in 2022, Sanders made Colorado relevant again, leading the team to a bowl game in 2024 for the first time since 2020.
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However, Sanders’ salary is a big Investment for the Big 12 school. Per a report from USA Today, Colorado has had a lack of transparency as to where the money is coming from to fund Sanders and the football program. CU told faculty to be “comfortable being uncomfortable” amid what the school projects to be a growing budget deficit beginning in the fiscal year 2027.
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USA Today quoted associate teaching professor Sigman Byrd, who questioned the “budget crisis” coinciding with the hiring of Sanders, believing the school is subsidizing the football program.
“As someone who is a teaching professor, I find it interesting that this budget crisis has occurred since Deion Sanders has come to CU,” Byrd said. “That the university will be perhaps giving even more money to athletics makes it worse. It frustrates me, angers me.
“Why is Sanders and the football team getting the money? That the university may not be transparent in the way it’s paying its bills concerns me, too.”
In the era of NIL, schools have to weigh their budget for sports as a way to keep from slipping into irrelevance, which could hurt donations from boosters and enrollment.
For the fiscal year 2026 budget, Colorado labeled their support for athletics as “TBD.” In a statement to USA Today, the program is focusing on generating funds via “donations, multi-media rights, outside events and other sources.”
Colorado was the talk of the college football world when quarterback Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter, winner of the 2024 Heisman Trophy, were on campus.
However, the investment in Sanders hasn’t produced winning results so far in 2025. Colorado is 2-4 and 0-3 in Big 12 play before they take on No. 22 Iowa State on Saturday. Colorado is hoping Sanders can continue to draw big crowds at Folsom Field and stay relevant in the national conversation.
For that to happen, Sanders is going to need to start winning games without his sons and Hunter on campus.