Maybe it’s time to have that discussion: Deion Sanders’ Colorado train has left the station. After three years of mediocre football (except for the first four weeks of his debut season and the 2024 season), folks in Boulder don’t really seem to be getting behind Prime Time. Word is, Colorado Buffaloes fans are literally skipping spring football, and each season, the numbers are getting worse than before.
The attendance for the 2026 Black and Gold spring game was estimated at approximately 17,500 fans. At first, the numbers seem fairly good, considering the total population and time of the month in Boulder. However, if you look in depth, it’s not remotely as good as it appears. Just to get the perspective, in his second year, it was 28,424 (with Shedeur and Travis on the team), and last spring, the number fell to 20,430. Truth be told, it’s a historical slide from that sold-out crowd of over 47,000 during his first year back in 2023, as per Colorado Sports Only.
Even though the school tried to claim a “ticketed” attendance of nearly 28,000, anyone looking at the stands could see the “Prime Effect” is starting to lose its magic. That’s roughly a 63% drop in real bodies since the peak of the craze.
Colorado spring game attendance keeps falling in year four for Deion Sanders. https://t.co/wN2GSHCQz0
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) April 13, 2026
However, the team seems to know why there’s such a diabolical drop-off.
“We’re not anything new and shiny anymore,” CU sophomore Elizabeth Stephan told Sean Keeler of the Denver Post. “We’re just kind of a mediocre team that somehow still makes headlines because of our coach.”
After the Buffs’ 3–0 start in Deion Sanders’ first season at the helm, the Colorado Buffaloes went on to lose eight of their nine games and finished the season 4–8. However, year two was the only good year of his career. With Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter in the best form of their lives, Colorado made the Alamo Bowl and ended the season with a 9–4 record. However, since then, it’s all been shams in Boulder: 3–9 in 2025, and the 2026 squad preview isn’t looking very appealing at all.
It’s not absurd to say some of the initial magic has started to wear thin for the Buffaloes’ faithful. It could be because of his constant battle with his health. He only recently recovered from bladder cancer. Deion Sanders spent a good amount of time dealing with it. Prime Time had IVs stitched into his hands and was seen quietly limping last month during one of his spring practices.
Fans are still supportive. But as a head coach in his fourth year, he can’t go for a second rebuild season. And unfortunately, Deion Sanders has had a backward regression. Because of a down health year, the folks in Boulder are giving the benefit of the doubt to Prime Time for one more year.
However, despite the smaller audience, the scrimmage provided a first look at the latest version of Sanders’ aggressive roster overhaul. It wasn’t eye-candy event nor entertaining.
A look into Colorado’s Gold and Black Spring football
The 2026 Black and Gold spring game was a bit of a reality check and a headache for the Buffs. The team Gold team got a 7-6 win over . Fans saw Julian “JuJu” Lewis ball out. The former five-star completed 6 of his 11 passes he threw. He threw the game’s only touchdown to SDSU transfer Danny Scudero Jr. By judging this year’s wideout corps, the money’s on him to be the WR1 heading into this fall.
Even though the scoring was low, the defense gave fans a reason to be excited. They looked much faster and more aggressive than last year. The game actually ended with Maurice Williams’ spectacular diving interception in the closing minutes. Quintin Gibson out of all had a most productive day. The wideout had caught 4 catches for 36 or 34 yards.
As we roll into Year 4, the honeymoon phase is officially over, and the pressure on Deion to actually win games has never been higher than this. The Vegas, once again, is not very optimistic and is not taking chances with Deion Sanders, as they have them at 4.5 wins for the upcoming season. Unlike before, Deion Sanders isn’t getting any favors or blessings if he doesn’t get the Colorado Buffaloes their first bowl win of his tenure.
