When CU brought Deion Sanders in 2023, it was not just for football. It was also a business move. He brought cameras, celebrities, huge television ratings, and a level of attention that Colorado had not seen in decades. Quickly, CU got attention, and it helped explain why the program rewarded Sanders with a $250,000 discretionary bonus after his first season. But now, a new internal audit has revealed another payment that shouldn’t have been made.

This time, the school paid him money that his contract did not actually entitle him to receive. According to the audit obtained by USA Today, Colorado overpaid Sanders by $50,000 after the Buffaloes’ appearance in the 2024 Alamo Bowl. Not just that, according to the same audit, the program also overpaid Sanders’ assistant coaches a whopping $71,333 for the Bowl game. In total, Colorado lost $1.2 million on the bowl game against BYU, which the team lost. But how did it happen?

Per Sanders’ initial contract, he was guaranteed $150,000 in incentives if the team qualified for a non-New Year’s Six Bowl and $200,000 if it reached a New Year’s Six Bowl game. Since Colorado’s Alamo Bowl wasn’t a New Year’s Six game, Sanders shouldn’t have received the full amount.

“Reviews such as these are valuable tools for CU Athletics to identify areas and processes that are working as well as opportunities for improvement,” Colorado’s Athletic Department told USA Today in a statement. “The findings of this audit are indicative of the excitement of the Athletic Department and the university for making a bowl game while providing essential feedback for how we can improve our preexisting processes and implement new policies.”

Importantly, the audit has not accused Sanders of wrongdoing. It found no evidence of intentional misconduct and instead pointed toward weak financial controls inside the athletic department. The report called for “significant improvements” to prevent similar mistakes in the future.

In 2023, Deion Sanders arrived with heavy fanfare, making the Boulder program a national headline overnight. There were improvements on the field, too. Before Sanders’ arrival, Colorado had managed just one win in 2022, but Coach Prime led the Buffaloes to 4 wins in his debut season, generating widespread national interest. Owing to that added exposure, the university handed Sanders a $250,000 bonus for national recognition.

Interestingly, at the time, the school wasn’t contractually obliged to pay Sanders the sum but went ahead and did so. However, in 2024, the situation was different. That time, the payment was not a reward based on Colorado’s popularity or Sanders’ impact. It was a contract error. The program paid him a bonus tied to a higher-level bowl that Colorado didn’t qualify for. And despite that $1.2 million error being a mistake, it comes at a time when CU Athletics is facing a severe financial crunch.

Pressure is mounting on Deion Sanders amid the program’s financial struggles

According to CU’s athletic department’s projections, the program will face a $27 million deficit by the end of the current fiscal year this June. In all, the program currently needs $11.9 million through institutional support and $2.2 million from students’ fees to cover that deficit. While the program has laid out plans to reduce the deficit, it’s the first time it has reported such a large deficit. In total, the athletic department could need at least $41 million in subsidies and institutional support.

All of it comes at a time when the Colorado head coach is making $10 million annually, and donor frustration is growing as his team finished 3-9 in 2025. By all means, being competitive in the NIL market, offering $20.5 million as revenue sharing to athletes and paying coaches’ salaries look like a daunting task for the athletic department.

“With a lame-duck athletic director, a dismal football season, who-knows-what to happen with the (transfer) portal, donor fatigue, the distancing of football leadership from football alums — the prospects for making much of a dent in that deficit seem very slim,” Roger Pielke, an emeritus professor at Colorado, told USA Today. “That would mean that the university will have to fill the gap.”

For FY25-26, CU’s projected revenue is close to $137 million, but expenses total around $163 million. Among the expenses, football’s total is hovering at $60.4 million, and the program is aggressively planning to make everything sustainable. With Coach Prime failing to produce results last year, pressure is building on him, and 2026 is going to be a pivotal year for his future in Boulder.