Estimating Deion Sanders' Value To Colorado Buffaloes Football Program

Baker attempted to put a price on "Coach Prime," but he explained that The Athletic could only approximate the value of Sanders:

"Although we can’t isolate Deion Sanders’ impact on Colorado, we conservatively estimated it to be at least $50 million. Why? Without Sanders, the Buffaloes (two 10-win seasons this century) would undoubtedly be lower on this list. But we didn’t want to make too much of it because there’s no guarantee the bump lasts beyond his tenure, whenever and however it ends," wrote Baker.

In March of 2025, Colorado signed Sanders to an extension worth $54 million over the next five years, making "Coach Prime" one of the highest-paid coaches in college football.

The Athletic based its valuations around a hypothetical question if college football teams could be bought and sold. The most expensive teams have a projected value over $1 billion, while the top-25 teams are all over $500 million. Here are the top 10 most-valuable teams, according to Baker and The Athletic.

No. 1 Texas Longhorns
No. 2 Georgia Bulldogs
No. 3 Ohio State Buckeyes
No. 4 Notre Dame Fighting Irish
No. 5 Michigan Wolverines
No. 6 Alabama Crimson Tide
No. 7 Oklahoma Sooners
No. 8 USC Trojans
No. 9 Tennessee Volunteers
No. 10 LSU Tigers

Former Pac-12 schools like USC, Oregon, Washington, Utah, and UCLA are above the Buffaloes, and the top of the rankings is dominated by the Big Ten and the SEC.

Winning typically makes a program more valuable, as evidenced by the most valuable teams in the country. Still, the effect of Deion Sanders is noticeable.

In a report from Visit Boulder, the Buffaloes' six home games in 2023 generated $113.2 million, Sanders' first season with the program.

"Coach Prime" was hired after Colorado finished 1-11 in 2022, and he has improved in each of his two seasons with the Buffaloes.

With the help of current NFL stars like former Buffaloes cornerback wide/receiver Travis Hunter and former Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders, "Coach Prime" led the program to four wins in 2023 followed by a 9-4 finish in 2024.

The top-10 most valuable teams in the Big 12 are as follows (overall ranking in parentheses):

No. 1 Utah Utes (No. 29)
No. 2 TCU Horned Frogs (No. 30)
No. 3 Texas Tech (No. 33)
No. 4 Oklahoma State (No. 39)
No. 5 Arizona State Sun Devils (No. 40)
No. 6 Iowa State Cyclones (No. 45)
No. 7 Colorado Buffaloes (No. 47)
No. 8 Kansas State Wildcats (No. 49)
No. 9 BYU Cougars (No. 50)
No. 10 West Virginia Mountaineers (No. 53)