Colorado Buffaloes Overpaid Deion Sanders $50,000 for Alamo Bowl

The University of Colorado gave football coach Deion Sanders a bonus he didn’t earn after the 2024 season and overpaid him by $50,000 for his team's appearance in Alamo Bowl that year, according to an internal audit by the university obtained by USA TODAY Sports. The same audit found the university overpaid Sanders’ assistant coaches and staff by $71,333 for the same bowl game and the university lost $1.2 million on the bowl game in large part because it didn’t have a budget for it to regulate spending. The audit report was dated June 4, 2026 and was distributed to university leadership. It did not identify intentional misconduct but said “significant improvements” were needed to avoid this from happening again. Such internal audits generally are designed to improve operations and manage risk. It was the second straight year Colorado paid Sanders beyond the requirements of his contract. In late 2023, it gave him a discretionary bonus of $250,000 that wasn’t stipulated in his contract. The university plans to revise its postseason pay policies and require budgets for future bowl games. The University of Colorado gave football coach Deion Sanders a bonus he didn’t earn after the 2024 season and overpaid him by $50,000 for his team's appearance in Alamo Bowl that year, according to an internal audit by the university obtained by USA TODAY Sports. The same audit found the university overpaid Sanders’ assistant coaches and staff by $71,333 for the same bowl game and the university lost $1.2 million on the bowl game in large part because it didn’t have a budget for it to regulate spending. The audit report was dated June 4, 2026 and was distributed to university leadership. It did not identify intentional misconduct but said “significant improvements” were needed to avoid this from happening again. Such internal audits generally are designed to improve operations and manage risk. It was the second straight year Colorado paid Sanders beyond the requirements of his contract. In late 2023, it gave him a discretionary bonus of $250,000 that wasn’t stipulated in his contract. The university plans to revise its postseason pay policies and require budgets for future bowl games.