Oller's Second Thoughts: Deion Sanders pumps up ratings as Coach Prime super celebrity
ESPN doesn’t need Ohio State or Notre Dame, because the network has Coach Prime, thank you very much.
Week 3’s Colorado-Colorado State game drew 9.3 million viewers, breaking the record for the most-watched late-night college football game ever shown on ESPN, as well as the most-watched game of the season, according to Nielsen ratings.
Saturday’s 3:30 p.m. game between Colorado and No. 10 Oregon on ABC may top those numbers, especially with the Buffaloes and Ducks avoiding going head-to-head against Ohio State-Notre Dame, which kicks at 7:30 p.m.
It would be interesting to see what those two games would register in ratings if they had the same start time. The Buckeyes and Fighting Irish (NBC, Peacock) will be huge, but never bet against celebrity culture.
The Colorado-Colorado State game was a back-and-forth 43-35 triple-overtime dandy won by the Buffs, but the outcome had little to do with the ratings bonanza, which peaked at 11.1 million viewers and was the most streamed college game of all time. That was 99% due to Coach Prime, with 1% support from his son, quarterback Shadeur Sanders, a candidate to win the Heisman Trophy.
Colorado could have lost the game and the ratings would have been close to the same, because in the 24-hour sports and social media cycle, celebrity tops competition. And Deion Sanders is king of the camera and microphone.
The backstory helps. Colorado stunk last season, finishing 1-11. Sanders took over and the Buffaloes are 3-0. That’s a storybook turnaround led by a coach who never stops talking the talk and walking the walk with a swagger not seen since Lane Kiffin was the cocky kid coaching Southern California (as opposed to the semi-cocky older kid now coaching Mississippi).
Sanders' magnetism attracts believers and repels skeptics, which makes him the perfect sports figure, not entirely unlike Muhammad Ali, in a nation that thirsts for polarization.
Did we mention that three of the five most-watched games this season involved Colorado?
How long will it last? The knee-jerk answer is “Only as long as Colorado keeps winning.” Some truth to that, but inquiring minds will want to know how Sanders handles defeat. I’m betting he will be brash, honest and gracious, which is an attractive yet challenging combination to pull off well. But if anyone can, it is Coach Ratings.
Show me the recruiting trip money
Just when you can’t be any more shocked by the changes in college sports … did you catch Gene Smith’s written testimony that it has “become common” for high school recruits to request $5,000 just to visit a school’s campus?
I have to admit Smith’s assertion dropped my jaw into my cereal. The Ohio State athletic director commented on the challenges of name, image and likeness during a recent appearance before the House Committee on Small Business in Washington, D.C. He is among those who believe federal legislation is needed.
“A practice of asking a school for a fee to simply visit campus has emerged; asking for $5,000 just to visit has become common. During visits, discussions now emerge regarding how much a student-athlete can expect from NIL,” Smith wrote in his testimony.
I’m not sure how much, if any, federal legislation is needed to control NIL, but I have a problem defending the $5,000 ask, mostly because it goes against what advocates of college athletes like myself have always argued, that athletes should be treated the same as the general student population. What that has meant is if the art student can get paid for a painting created in class, why shouldn’t tennis players be able to earn money giving lessons? Now with NIL they can.
But the art student is not given $5,000 to visit the school art gallery. Yes, I know, the art student doesn’t help bring millions into the university coffers, but neither does a recruit who ends up signing with another school. And even if the athlete does sign, well, the sense of entitlement is both embarrassing and concerning for a society that awards participation trophies.
I have no problem with paying athletes $5,000, but they need to earn it on the field.
September 22, 2007: “I’m a man! I’m 40!” pic.twitter.com/BUPNNvZmmn
— This Day In Sports Clips (@TDISportsClips) September 22, 2023
Listening in
“I’m a man! I’m 40!” – Sept. 22, 2007; the 16th anniversary of Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy going off the rails. It never gets old.
Off-topic
Mid-September to mid-October weather in Ohio is glorious. That is all.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Deion Sanders brings Coach Prime celebrity status to Colorado football
