Saturday hosted a carousel of college games, but none with as much expectation as Colorado vs. Oregon.
The game would be the toughest yet for the Buffs, a precursor of the competition pushing his team into the depths of the Pac-12’s most challenging teams over the next few weeks. Although this one was not personal for Deion Sanders, it was personal for Oregon’s head coach, Dan Lanning.
Before the game, his motivational speech to the team had a telling line, “They’re fighting for clicks, we’re fighting for wins.” It was a nod to the social media proliferation of the Coach Prime and Colorado brand and the celebrity co-signs that circle it.
“Rooted in substance. Not flash,” Lanning said. “Rooted in substance. Today, we talk with our pads. We talk with your helmet. Every moment. The Cinderella story is over, man. They’re fighting for clicks, we’re fighting for wins. There’s a difference. This game ain’t gonna be played in Hollywood. It’s gonna be played on the grass.”
Less Athletic And More Financial
The message was clear from the 42-6 blowout: the Buffs are still learning each other and how to cope with the big dogs in their division. As the precursor to a rough couple of weeks to come, Sanders, although humbled in defeat, is turning a tide that will be measured in cultural and financial impact more than tough wins.
Although his win over Colorado State was impressive for his team’s tenacity, his loss to Oregon alerted the world that this Buffs team is not an athletic anomaly but more of a corporate one.
Sanders’ current standing as a celebrity coach further exhibits how integrable college sports are with corporate sponsorship and as a vessel for influence. He’s not the first big name that a fledgling football program has brought in to raise its visibility, marketing opportunities and hopefully win more games. Plenty of former NFL legends and players have taken a shot at coaching college programs and more have failed than succeeded.
Prime’s popularity comes from his personality and celebrity standing as the greatest cornerback to ever do it. But the longevity of his impact and the respect will come from the success of his team on the football field.
Everybody loves a winner, especially corporate.
Shortly after the loss, the NFL debuted a commercial with Sanders announcing that Usher would be the Super Bowl halftime performer by acting out the intro to his song “Confessions.”
Not Just Colorado
Penn State held its annual White Out game, where over one hundred thousand attendees wore white T-shirts. However, along the way to a 31-0 rout of the Iowa Hawkeyes, St. Louis rapper Sexyy Red was seen on the sidelines and turned up when the arena erupted in her signature song “SkeeYee.”
The juxtaposition of a Midwest rapper with no real context to college football against a sea of mainly white college football fans in Happy Valley is the real ‘Prime Effect.’
Sanders re-established the college coach as the face of the most visible college football programs, despite the individualized nature of transfer portal madness and NIL deals that do anything but create a sense of comradery under one voice of leadership. Sanders’ success at Jackson State and now Colorado has further opened the doors for college football to be a vehicle for branding, as his numerous commercials for brands like Kentucky Fried Chicken and Aflac can attest.
At 3-1, the team has already done better than last year’s team. Not to mention, the increased sales of Colorado merchandise and the increased attention their competitors will receive all year is a huge plus that doesn’t directly benefit Coach Prime but is a direct result of his influence.
Only time will tell how many more wins the Buffs will see this season, but there is no doubt that his name, image, and likeness are helping college football become great again for corporate America.
