The Deion Sanders era at Colorado has been generally successful. The Buffaloes are 5-2 this season and showing impressive performances on the road.
But while Sanders’ time there once also drew incredible viewership, that hasn’t been the trend lately. On Saturday afternoon at Arizona, their game averaged 2.02 million viewers on Fox. According to Jon Lewis of Sports Media Watch, that was the least-watched Buffaloes’ game on broadcast television since Sanders took over as head coach last season (and the second least-watched for them in that span, with only the 727,000 for a FS1 Friday night game against Washington State last year lower.)
This season, Colorado games have averaged 3.84 million viewers, which is down 49 percent from the first eight weeks of last season. The most-watched game for the Buffaloes this season was a 28-10 loss to Nebraska in early September.
This wasn’t too long after Sanders made comments about kickoff times.
“Who does that to us?” Sanders said on an episode of Colorado Football Coaches Show. “Who has the power to sit up there and say ‘Yeah, I’m going to make them play at 8:15 (local time)?’”
“It’s not smart for a television executive to say we’re going to put this game on at this time because you’re thinking about eyeballs,” he added.
However, this game was at 4 p.m. ET. And while it faced significant competition in the afternoon window, including from No. 7 Alabama at No. 11 Tennessee on ABC and from No. 24 Michigan at No. 22 Illinois on CBS, this wasn’t a late-night slot, and it drew a plum broadcast Fox network berth.
There isn’t an obvious answer as to why the drop in ratings for the Buffaloes. Maybe their national appeal is starting to wear off. But it’s apparent Sanders doesn’t worry about those he sees as against him.
During his press conference on Tuesday, Sanders was asked about hostile crowds. Not just as a coach, but as a former player. He embraces it.
“We like to be booed and naysayed and hated. It turns us on. It’s kinda sexy, as a matter of fact,” Sanders said, via USA Today. “That’s how I felt when I played … I think we like being the underdogs.”
[Sports Media Watch, USA Today]
About Jessica Kleinschmidt
Jess is a baseball fan with Reno, Nev. roots residing in the Bay Area. She is the host of "Short and to the Point" and is also a broadcaster with the Oakland A's Radio Network. She previously worked for MLB.com and NBC Sports Bay Area.