In NIL era, Deion Sanders to make Colorado players 'the most famous'

Colorado announced Saturday it hired former Jackson State coach Deion Sanders Sunday and Sanders later met with his new team. Sanders, who was filmed by several cameras during the meeting, said he’s in the process of filming documentaries. That media attention could help Colorado football players in the NCAA’s NIL era.

Deion Sanders Jr., who’s also known as Bucky, posted a nearly 15-minute video of the meeting between Sanders and Colorado’s football team on his YouTube channel, Well Off Media. At the end of the meeting, Bucky Sanders told the Buffaloes players, “I’m going to make y’all the most famous people walking this planet. But you gotta win.”

The older Sanders had turned to his son at the front of the room to introduce him to the team.

“Son, Bucky. All the stuff you see us post, he’s the man,” Sanders said. “He’s been a one-man machine. Now he gets some help. It’s going to be unbelievable… We know how to do social media. We’re going to bungee jump in followers y’all got. Matter of fact, you tell them, what’s the best way for them to increase it today? Tell ’em.”

Bucky Sanders said to post frequently on social media.

“Today? Just post,” the younger Sanders said. “You just gotta post. Stay consistent. You got all eyes on you right now. Everybody wants to know what y’all about to do, who y’all are, who everything is and that’s what I’m a do.”

In the first year of the NCAA’s NIL era, roughly two-thirds of NIL opportunities involved athletes posting on social media. Some of the high school and college athletes whose On3 NIL Valuation are among the highest in the On3 NIL 100 have millions of social media followers, such as Bronny James, Mikey Williams and Livvy Dunne.

Buffs4Life NIL Collective launched in October

Colorado football players will have the opportunity to benefit from the Buffs4Life NIL Collective, which launched in October. It’s the first NIL collective designed to facilitate NIL opportunities for Colorado athletes.

The Buffs4Life NIL Collective is part of the Buffs4Life Foundation, which is a 501(c)(3) organization that provides financial assistance and mental health resources for former Colorado athletes.

Buffs4Life NIL Collective’s website says, “A tax-deductible financial contribution to the Buffs4Life NIL Collective can be made to the general fund that supports all CU student-athletes or to a specific team, group of student-athletes, or an individual student-athlete. 15% of every donation goes to the Buffs4Life Foundation while the rest goes directly towards compensating student-athletes for their name, image and likeness.”

The Buffs4Life NIL Collective will be part of one innovative fundraising strategy in the future.

The sports and entertainment marketing firm Gazelle Group, Inc., agreed to pay $5,000 to a NIL collective that’s aligned with Colorado through the parties’ agreement for the Buffaloes men’s basketball team to participate in the 2023 Sunshine Slam.

“Likely that will be the one it goes to,” Colorado Director of Player Development Zach Ruebesam told On3, referring to the Buffs4Life NIL Collective.