Deion Sanders did something unusual when he arrived in Boulder. He made people care about Colorado football again. In 2023, their games became appointment TV with the presence of Coach Prime, Shedeur Sanders, and Travis Hunter. The Buffs finished 4-8 that year. They did much better the following year as they went 9-3, and the attention stayed. Then came 2025, when they went 3-9 after losing their final five games. Now the TV numbers are showing just how hard that drop hit.

Front Office Sports reports that Colorado games on ESPN averaged nearly 6.2 million viewers in 2023. By 2024, that number slipped to 3.4 million, and last season it bottomed out at 2.1 million. That is an alarming loss of 4.1 million viewers in just three years. The audience shrank by roughly 67 percent from his first season to his third, placing the famous Prime Effect under severe pressure as he enters year four.

Remember September 2023 when Colorado lost badly to Oregon, but 10.03 million people still tuned in. That same day, Notre Dame-Ohio State drew 9.98 million on NBC. The Buffs had somehow beaten it. Those numbers feel a long way away now.

Deion Sanders remains a massive personality. He’s a Hall of Famer, a Super Bowl champion, and one of the most recognizable figures in college football. But networks ultimately want viewers. Last season, fewer of them showed up for Colorado.

The 2026 schedule already hints at the change. Colorado is scheduled for ESPN games against Georgia Tech on Sept. 3 and Houston on Nov. 13. The Sept. 12 meeting with Weber State is set for ESPN+. The Northwestern game on Sept. 19 will air on Fox or FS1. The rest of the national schedule is still taking shape. 

This broadcast schedule is a massive change from 2024, when all 13 Colorado games landed on major national TV networks. Back then, star power carried the rating meters. But with star quarterback Shedeur Sanders and two-way playmaker Travis Hunter moving on to the NFL, TV networks are no longer willing to lock in prime broadcast windows without seeing wins first.

That’s a far cry from 2024, when all 13 games were nationally televised. Still, Deion Sanders has one obvious way to change the conversation. That’s why he can’t stress enough about winning. And maybe this is the year when Colorado can rebound. At least that’s what ESPN’s Bill Connelly believes. And that’s largely because of the transfer class they Buffs have assembled. 

The group includes proven FBS players such as receivers Danny Scudero and Kam Perry, center Demetrius Hunter, DT Santana Hopper, and LB Gideon Lampron. Colorado also added former blue-chip recruits such as Texas receiver DeAndre Moore Jr. and Tennessee DB Boo Carter.

“I’m just really enamored with the transfer class Sanders reeled in,” he wrote.

That’s the gamble. Colorado has brought in plenty of fresh talent. Now those players have to become a team. Deion Sanders has money and time behind him, too. His five-year, $54 million contract runs through 2029, though the buyout gets smaller with each passing season.

There is another headache arriving at almost the worst possible moment. Deion Sanders is expected to testify in his son Shilo Sanders’ bankruptcy trial, which is scheduled to begin Aug. 31 in Denver, only three days before Colorado opens against Georgia Tech in Atlanta. The cameras will still be waiting. But the bigger question is whether the audience will come back.