Despite Losing Season, Colorado Paid Deion Sanders $250K Bonus for Media Attention

The University of Colorado gave a $250,000 bonus to football coach Deion Sanders last year for the national recognition the university received during Sanders’ first year on the job — one in which the Buffalos posted a losing record.

According to records obtained by USA TODAY Sports, which made the bonus public for the first time Friday, the payment is unusual for at least a couple of reasons:

∎ It wasn’t part of any specific stipulation or milestone reached in his employment contract. This made it a gift of sorts for Sanders, who otherwise was paid $5.5 million in his first season in Boulder.

∎ The bonus came shortly after the Buffaloes finished their 4-8 season with a six-game losing streak.

“Sanders to earn an Employee Recognition Bonus for the national recognition he has brought to the University and Athletics Department this season,” states the pay form signed by CU officials in early December.

"Not many major college football coaches, if any, get huge bonuses that aren’t spelled out in their contracts or after they lose eight of their final nine games of the season," Brent Schrotenboer of USA TODAY Sports wrote. "But the university could make the case that Sanders, 56, deserved it."

“The employee recognition bonus is a discretionary bonus awarded by Athletic Director Rick George for the immense impact Coach Prime has made on the football program, the Athletic Department, and the university in his first season,” the university said in a statement this week to USA TODAY Sports.

The university gained about $343 million in “earned media” value during Sanders' first season on the job from July 31 to Nov. 27, according to data provided by the university from Cision, its media-monitoring service. Colorado had five of the top 25 most-watched games in all of college football, including the College Football Playoff, according to the university. The school has also reported a record number of applicants for the fall 2024 semester and a 50.5% increase in Black applicants.

By contrast, Colorado gained only about $87 million of earned media value during the same period in 2022 before Sanders' arrival, when Colorado finished 1-11.

The bonus payment — which exceeded contract incentives that Sanders failed to earn, including $150,000 for winning six games and $200,000 for getting invited to a New Year’s Six bowl game — was authorized Dec. 1 by then-CU Boulder Chancellor Phil DiStefano one day after Sports Illustrated named Sanders its "Sportsman of the Year," Schrotenboer reported.