Colorado, Deion Sanders, and Aflac Sign Genius Headset Sponsorship

Coach Prime and others on the Buffaloes' coaching staff will showcase eight unique headset designs in the upcoming season

Noah Henderson | Aug 21, 2024

Nov 4, 2023; Boulder, Colorado, USA; Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders during the game against the Oregon State Beavers at Folsom Field. Mandatory Credit: Chet Strange-USA TODAY Sports / Chet Strange-USA TODAY Sports

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Colorado Buffaloes

Two major developments occurred over the college football offseason. The first, catalyzed by the notorious Michigan sign-stealing scandal, was the implementation of headsets for wireless communication between coaches and quarterbacks –– something that has differed between the college game and the NFL since 1994. The second is the almost unanimous recognition by college athletic leadership that revenue-sharing with student-athletes will soon become a reality.

With Power 4 schools soon on the hook for up to a projected $22,000,000 in annual payments to athletes, athletic departments have been making various efforts to reduce wasteful spending and generate new revenue streams. The NCAA recently allowed programs to sell advertising space on-field, and last week, Tennessee announced a long-term partnership with Pilot to assign that very right. Now, in a novel partnership, Colorado has become the first FBS program to sell advertising space on the newly implemented coaching headsets. On the other side of the partnership will be prominent insurance company Aflac.

Colorado is uniquely positioned to monetize coaching headsets at a rate higher than virtually every other institution. Coach Prime is the most recognizable coach in FBS football, sometimes hailed as Mr. Midas; there is truth in the statement that whatever Deion Sanders touches turns to gold, or at the very least, green. Upon his arrival at CU, Sanders was the main reason the Buffs online team store merchandise sales increased 1,220% from September 2022 to September 2023.

Coach Prime’s outspoken and charismatic nature consistently landed him atop media headlines. Both in print and digital format, pictures and videos of Coach Prime go viral and are seen by the nation at large. Now, many iconic Sanders moments from the 2024 season will bear the Aflac logo — some may call this priceless real estate.

According to a press release from Colorado’s athletic department, “Coach Prime will wear eight unique headsets throughout the season, designed to coordinate with his team's helmets and prominently featuring the Aflac logo.” This is a genius marketing campaign. Fans can tune into CU football to see a new uniquely designed headset most weeks of the college season.

While many will see the headsets as a gimmick, in the same way that many college football fans see Oregon’s uniforms as a gimmick, one thing is certain –– there is an audience who will care and journalists who will report on it. To Aflac and Colorado, media exposure is all that matters for each party’s financial interests.

Published Aug 21, 2024

NOAH HENDERSON

Professor Noah Henderson teaches in the sport management department at Loyola University Chicago. Outside the classroom, he advises companies, schools, and collectives on Name, Image, and Likeness best practices. His academic research focuses on the intersection of law, economics, and social consequences regarding college athletics, NIL, and sports gambling. Before teaching, Prof. Henderson was part of a team that amended Illinois NIL legislation and managed NIL collectives at the nation’s most prominent athletic institutions while working for industry leader Student Athlete NIL. He holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Illinois College of Law in Urbana-Champaign and a Bachelor of Economics from Saint Joseph’s University, where he was a four-year letter winner on the golf team. Prof. Henderson is a native of San Diego, California, and a former golf CIF state champion with Torrey Pines High School. Outside of athletics, he enjoys playing guitar, hanging out with dogs, and eating California burritos. You can follow him on Twitter: @NoahImgLikeness.