The University of Colorado paid head football coach Deion Sanders an unexpected bonus after the 2024 season, overpaying him by $50,000 for the Buffs' appearance at the Alamo Bowl.
According to USA Today, which obtained an internal audit, the university also overpaid Sanders' assistant coaches and staff by $71,333 for the same bowl game.
The university lost $1.2 million on the bowl game in large part because it didn’t have a budget for it to regulate spending.
While no intentional misconduct was identified in the audit, the report did recognize that "significant improvements" were needed to avoid such mistaked happening again.
The incident is the second time Colorado paid Sanders beyond the requirements of his contract. In late 2023, the school game him a discretionary bones of $250,000 that wasn't stipulated in his contract. The university said that bonus was for the "national recognition" he brought to the university in his first season as head coach back in 2023.
The most recent audit said the university gave him a bonus for getting invited to a “New Year’s Six” bowl game even though the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio is not part of the “New Year’s Six” games, which comprise the Rose, Sugar, Orange, Fiesta, Cotton and Peach bowls.
Overall, Colorado lacked an event budget for the Alamo, with the audit revealing expenses for the game exceeded revenues.
“The university proceeded with the postseason participation without an event budget, which limited proactive financial oversight and contributed to decentralized spending decisions, resulting in event-related expenses exceeding revenues by $1,238,148,” the report stated.
