Colorado drew its largest crowd for its annual spring game Saturday at 45,000Ron Chenoy/USA TODAY NETWORK
Univ. of Colorado Chancellor Phil DiStefano said that he “wants the Pac-12 to expand back to 12 schools” and “pooh-poohed the notion of joining the Big 12,” according to Brent Schrotenboer of USA TODAY. DiStefano said that the hiring of football coach Deion Sanders in December “already has been ‘worth the investment.’” He added that he would “like to see the Pac-12 go for a five-year contract” in its new media rights negotiations “instead of the much longer deal that it had in the past.” But DiStefano said “there’s a very good possibility” the next deal will “bring in per-school revenues” ranking third among the Power 5 conferences, ahead of the Big 12 and ACC. In regards to rumors of CU moving back to the Big 12, DiStefano said the school is “committed to the Pac-12.” Schrotenboer noted CU will pay Sanders at nearly $6M “per year over five years.” Since the Sanders hiring, CU has “sold out of season tickets for the first time in 27 years, hosted its biggest crowd ever for its annual spring game Saturday (45,000) and watched its merchandise sales jump 505% in December alone from the previous year.” DiStefano said the hiring “definitely was worth the investment that we made” (USA TODAY, 4/23).
BUZZCAST: SBJ's Abe Madkour talks about CU's spring game atmosphere with Sanders at the helm in today's Buzzcast (3:41-5:17).
