Folsom Field, Photo by Matt Finnigan, Stadium Journey
The Coach Prime effect is real. The University of Colorado has sold more than 30,000 tickets to the Buffaloes' April 22 spring football game, according to the Boulder Daily Camera. This, despite the fact that CU is selling tickets for $10 for the first time since the 1980s and with the Buffs having posted a 1-11 record. The difference? Deion Sanders.
Since being named CU's head coach on December 3, 2022, Sanders has reinvigorated a program that desperately needed it. He assembled ESPN's top ranked transfer recruiting class for 2023, thanks in large part to bringing two-way star Travis Hunter. The nation's top recruit a year ago, Hunter was this season's top transfer. He came to Boulder from Jackson State University, where Sanders coached two seasons. Sanders also recruited ESPN's 23rd ranked recruiting class overall, highlighted by five-star cornerback Cormani McClain.
The excitement around both the program and Sanders has made CU's 2023 spring football game a hot ticket. CU's spring football attendance records date back to 1953, with the Buffs' previous high attendance for a spring game of 17,800 fans coming in 2008. In 2022, CU estimated attendance for the spring game at 1,950. CU's Folsom Field seats 50,183. With more than 60 percent of those seats sold for the spring game and free admission for CU students, Sanders might have a full stadium for his first spring game in Boulder.