Colorado coach Deion Sanders was accidentally overpaid $50,000 in a bowl game bonus due to a misclassification of the 2024 Alamo Bowl against BYU.According to a report by the University of Colorado Department of Internal Audit released on June 4, Colorado identified the Alamo Bowl as a “New Year’s Six” bowl game, which, according to language in Sanders’ contract, would result in a $200,000 bonus. Any other bowl appearance triggered a $150,000 bowl game bonus.The Alamo Bowl is not considered to be among the upper-tier “New Year’s Six” bowl games, a group that includes the Sugar, Fiesta, Rose, Orange, Cotton and Peach bowls.The audit, first obtained by USA Today, was also obtained by The Athletic on Wednesday.Sanders’ receiving an extra $50,000 was, according to the audit, “due to the misclassification of the Alamo Bowl as a NY6 bowl rather than the non-NY6 incentive provision specified in the Head Coach’s contract.” The audit also said that Colorado overpaid Sanders’ coaching staff by $71,333 for the Alamo Bowl, which Colorado lost 36-14 to the Cougars on Dec. 28, 2024. It is not clear whether the school will try to recoup the money it overpaid Sanders and his staff.
In total, the university overspent $1.2 million on the bowl game.“While we did not identify intentional misconduct, we concluded that the governance and control improvements for postseason athletic events are strongly recommended,” the audit stated.In addition to the misapplication of bowl-game status and overpaying Sanders and his staffers, the audit found that the university did not have a formalized spending budget for the trip, the university failed to have a proper framework for executive ticket allocation and reimbursement and that donor-funded private air travel for Colorado Chancellor Justin Schwartz did not meet normal requirements.“Reviews such as these are valuable tools for CU Athletics to identify areas and processes that are working, as well as opportunities for improvement. The findings of this audit are indicative of the excitement of the Athletic Department and university for making a bowl game while providing essential feedback for how we can improve our preexisting processes and implement new policies that will help us reflect best practices in the future,” said the Colorado athletics department in a statement to The Athletic.“We are committed to implementing all of the suggestions outlined in the audit starting this August as we provided in our management response, in order to make our procedures for football postseason play more efficient and transparent, while also working with various campus offices to ensure compliance and proper oversight.”After leading the Buffaloes to a 9-4 record and that trip to the Alamo Bowl in 2024, Sanders was rewarded with a five-year, $54 million contract extension in March 2025, making him one of the highest-paid coaches in college football.Before the 2026 season, in which the Buffaloes eventually went 3-9, Sanders announced he had been diagnosed with bladder cancer. In an interview on “Good Morning America” this week, Sanders announced he is cancer-free.Jun 10, 2026Connections: Sports EditionSpot the pattern. Connect the termsFind the hidden link between sports terms
