Deion Sanders Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Colorado sells out spring game as hype builds for Deion Sanders’ debut

By Michael Gallagher | Last updated 3/31/23

Hiring Deion Sanders as the school’s head football coach is already paying dividends for the University of Colorado.

The school announced on Thursday it had sold out its spring game on April 22, which will be televised on ESPN with a broadcast team of Chris Fowler, Robert Griffin III and Quint Kessinich. National champion Georgia is the only other team to have its spring game televised nationally, which can be seen on ESPN2.

The event has an expected attendance of 45,000 and will be the most-attended game in the university’s history. It’s also the first time the school will charge admission for the event ($10), which will draw a larger crowd than the Buffaloes’ last nine spring games combined. The previous attendance record for a CU spring game was 17,800 in 2008.

The attention Deion Sanders commands is a new concept to college football. Something we’ve never seen. pic.twitter.com/icAVklJ8ig
— Unnecessary Roughness (@UnnecRoughness) March 24, 2023

The impact Sanders is having on the program is quite palpable. Colorado finished with the No. 21-ranked recruiting class in the country this cycle, according to the 247Sports composite rankings.

Sanders flipped five-star prospect Cormani McClain, the top-ranked cornerback and No. 13 overall recruit in the country, from Miami plus he brought seven players over from Jackson State through the transfer portal, including his son, four-star quarterback Shedeur Sanders, and Travis Hunter, a five-star cornerback and the No. 1-ranked player in the class of 2022.

The Buffaloes went 1-11 last season under former head coach Karl Dorrell with their lone win coming in a 20-13 overtime win over the California Golden Bears in mid-October. Ten of the team’s 11 losses were by double digits. Colorado has had a losing record in 15 of the last 17 seasons.

Man love what Deion Sanders is teaching those young men in Colorado pic.twitter.com/c3lI3FlyG3
— Shannonnn sharpes Burner (PARODY Account) (@shannonsharpeee) March 7, 2023