Colorado
Colorado finalizes new deal with Deion Sanders’ manager for filming on campus
It’s an unusual deal in the sense that few college coaches besides Deion Sanders could procure this kind of arrangement.
US LBM Coaches Poll: Georgia are top dogs, Michigan drops after title run
The college football season is right around the corner and Paul Myerberg is here to break down the preseason US LBM Coaches Poll which sees Georgia at the top.
Sports Pulse
The University of Colorado has finalized an agreement with Deion Sanders’ business manager that spells out the terms for filming another season of the “Coach Prime” documentary series on the university’s Boulder campus.
The contract was finalized in late July after Amazon Prime Video announced the renewal of the series in May. It details the agreement between the university and SMAC Productions, a division of SMAC Entertainment, a talent agency based in Los Angeles. SMAC’s business clients include Sanders, Colorado’s football coach, and three players on his team − two-way star Travis Hunter and Sanders’ sons Shedeur and Shilo.
“We were extremely happy with how the last season of the Coach Prime docuseries turned out and are looking forward to working with SMAC on what promises to be another great season,” university spokesman Steve Hurlbert said.
USA TODAY Sports recently obtained the contract, which is unusual in the sense that few college coaches could procure this arrangement – an annual series on Prime Video, produced by his business manager, with wide latitude to film on campus at no charge.
The university sees it as a good deal, in large part because of the publicity it brings as it documents the Colorado football program behind the scenes under Sanders, also known as Coach Prime.
What is in the Deion Sanders filming contract?
The contract is mostly the same as last year’s, which covered Sanders’ first season at Colorado. It was signed by Sanders’ business manager, Constance Schwartz-Morini, CEO of SMAC Entertainment, along with CU administrator Patrick O’Rourke.
∎ The contract again includes no compensation for the university, which instead sees the publicity from the series as its own form of compensation. By contrast, Michigan received $2.25 million for access and licensing in relation to its behind-the-scenes show on Amazon for the 2017 season.
Amazon Prime Video declined to share viewership data for the last season of “Coach Prime.”
∎ SMAC Productions maintains editorial control of the series, with regular input from the university on the series’ content.
“All creative and business decisions in connection with the Series shall be under the sole control of Producer subject only to Producer’s compliance with its express obligations and restrictions set forth herein,” the contract states.
∎ As producer, SMAC Productions is responsible for securing “any and all media releases from any CU Individuals or other individuals who are featured, photographed, filmed or otherwise recorded for the production of the Series.”
∎ The producer has wide latitude for filming on campus. “Producer is hereby irrevocably granted permission to enter and use, film, photograph and record the athletic buildings and facilities of the CU including, without limitation, the CU’s football stadium, practice areas, weight rooms, locker rooms, team meeting rooms, fields, sideline areas, and all other restricted and unrestricted locations within and around the same,” the contract states.
∎ SMAC also has exclusive rights to CU for all television, documentary and episodic programming in all media for any commercial project featuring both Sanders and the CU Football program that might compete with the series until 12 months after the airing of the final episode. This doesn’t include rights to CU games but says CU needs Sanders’ prior written consent to “create its own short-form, non-serialized audiovisual content about CU which contains references to Sanders and CU Football.”
The university said it does not have any such agreements with Sanders, however.
How long will the ‘Coach Prime’ series run?
The contract states it is CU’s intent to positively collaborate with the producer “to allow production of the Series on the CU campus for the duration of Sanders employment relationship with CU.”
But the CU chancellor may decline to extend the filming of the series on the CU campus beyond the 2024 season. The parties agree to meet to discuss an option to extend the agreement on or about April 1, 2025.
Last year’s series was Season 2 of “Coach Prime” and debuted after Sanders’ first season in Boulder, when the Buffaloes finished 4-8 after starting 3-0. It consisted of six episodes and followed Season 1, which covered Sanders’ final year at Jackson State before his hiring in Boulder.
“The partnership with CU and SMAC worked very well last year for all parties so we all felt there was little need to make any drastic changes ahead of this season,” Hurlbert said.
Colorado currently is engaged in preseason practices and begins the season Aug. 29 at home against North Dakota State.
Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com
EDGARTOWN, Mass. (WWLP) – A resident of Aurora, Colorado, won the third and final $4 million grand prize in the Massachusetts State Lottery’s “4,000,000 Platinum Jackpot” instant ticket game.
In a news release from the Massachusetts State Lottery, on Friday, June 12th, Enrique Frias Mejia visited the lottery office to claim what he thought was a $4,000 prize, and learned it was actually a $4,000,000. Enrique chose the cash option on his prize and received a one-time payment of $2.6 million (before taxes). He plans to use the winnings to buy a house, invest, and help his family.
The winning ticket was purchased at Great Harbor Market in Edgartown, which will receive a $40,000 bonus for selling the ticket.
Local News Headlines
WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Download the 22News Plus app on your TV to watch live-streaming newscasts and video on demand.
As Colorado heads into what experts worry could be a busy wildfire season, specialized paramedics are preparing to deploy alongside firefighters. They will provide medical care in some of the most remote and dangerous environments in the state.
Wildland paramedics with Eagle County Paramedic Services said it takes pride being qualified to respond to our state’s dangerous natural disasters alongside firefighters to keep them in the fight.
“It’s pretty important that we have an understanding, even if we’re not doing the same job that they are of exactly what’s going on kind of top to bottom of the entire incident,” paramedic Beckett Lilien told CBS Colorado.
To work on a wildfire assignment, paramedics and EMTs must earn what’s known as a “red card,” completing specialized training in wildfire behavior, safety protocols and fire operations. The goal is to make sure firefighters can focus on fighting fire without worrying about providing medical care if something goes wrong.
Lilien said the job ranges from treating common issues such as dehydration, illness and blisters to handling serious emergencies.
“If a tree falls on somebody or somebody drives a blade through their foot or the chainsaw slips or something like that, being able to respond and give point-of-injury care,” Lilien said.
Wildland firefighters said having medical professionals embedded with crews is a major advantage, especially when fires are burning in remote terrain where help can be hours away.
“If someone does get hurt, they’ll take control of that situation, and I can continue to focus on putting the fire out. And that’s really important,” said Hugh Fairfield-Smith, division chief of wildland fire operations for the Eagle River Fire Protection District.
The partnership comes as fire agencies across Colorado prepare for elevated wildfire risk following a dry winter and below-average snowpack. Lilien said conditions are developing earlier than normal this year, raising concerns about what the rest of the summer could bring. Still, firefighters said having trained medical personnel on standby provides peace of mind.
“It’s a safety blanket there we hope we never have to use,” Fairfield-Smith said. “But they’re there.”
Colorado
Colorado’s Deion Sanders weighs in on wagering as gambling scandal ripples through college football
DENVER — Nobody has lived on the edge of the risk-reward nature of sports more than Deion Sanders over the years.
One place the Colorado coach won’t go — gambling on the college game, the likes of which has generated a scandal inside the very conference his team resides. Wagering has jumped to the forefront of college football as Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby won a court order early last week that restored his eligibility and set aside a ban by the NCAA for betting on pro and college sports. Colorado plays Big 12 rival Texas Tech on Oct. 3 as part of homecoming festivities.
“Somebody’s gambling on a sport they’re playing? You don’t think something’s wrong with that?” Sanders said in a recent interview with The Associated Press and before the latest court ruling with Sorsby. “Just say that to yourself: This guy on my team is gambling on the sport, in the competition, that we’re about to go out there and have. Something’s wrong that.”
Sanders has plenty of thoughts on refining the game in this day and age of the volatile transfer portal and lucrative name, image and likeness deals. His takes include a salary cap in an effort to even the NIL playing field, hiring a retired coach as commissioner (a Nick Saban type ), instituting some sort of an age limit, expand the College Football Playoff to 24 teams and, of course, a hard pass when it comes to betting (he’s talked to his squad about this topic).
“The game is still the game,” Sanders said. “The game is just positioned differently. Money’s involved, and any time money’s involved people tend to migrate to what they think they can get out of it, instead of what they could put into it — and that’s unfortunate.”
Bladder cancer diagnosis
A year ago, Sanders was going through treatment for bladder cancer, which included having a section of his intestine reconstructed to function as a bladder. This being Men’s Health Month, he’s working with Depend underwear to encourage regular checkups (and launching a program titled “Depend Wake Up Calls” that allows consumers to receive video messages from Sanders through June).
Earlier this spring, Sanders stepped away from the team for a few days as he dealt with blood clots. But he said he’s “feeling great. I’ve got my old swagger back.”
Along with it, a new outlook, which includes actually taking vacation time. Sanders recently partnered on a beachfront property in St. Croix with his son, Shedeur, who’s entering his second season as a quarterback with the Cleveland Browns.
“I never would’ve done that, because I don’t go anywhere,” the 58-year-old Sanders said. “I’m stepping out, just living life.”
Sanders missed football camps last summer in Boulder as he went through cancer treatments. The Buffaloes finished with a 3-9 mark a year after making a bowl game behind Shedeur Sanders and Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter.
This offseason, a more hands-on version of Deion Sanders.
“I have everybody in that locker room because we said we want them,” he said. “Because I sat there and watched tape on them and said, ‘That’s who I want, that’s what I want. Let’s go get them.’”
The new landscape of college football
Sanders found it funny that his heavy reliance on the transfer portal once drew so many raised eyebrows.
“Now, everybody’s doing the same thing that I did,” he said. “But it was crazy back then, right?”
He’s seen and heard the plans from conferences — and the legislation proposals from lawmakers — on how to adapt college football in this new landscape. It’s a lot to untangle, which is why he advocates for an authoritative figure to help oversee the sport.
“A guy like Coach Saban and some of the other coaches that have walked away from the game not because they can’t coach anymore but because they were fed up with how things are operating,” he said.
Sanders also would be in favor of implementing a salary cap (see: NFL).
“So you can really have a consistency with the game,” Sanders said. “The thing about the pro game, everybody gets to spend the same amount of money. It’s who is crafty in regard to business. College football isn’t like that. You may have a team that’s spent $40 million playing against a team who spent $10 million. You darn well know the outcome in that game.”
That leads him to his next point — a potential age cap.
“You can’t have a 30-year-old man playing against a 21-year old man and think it’s fair,” he said. “Should be a transfer rule as well. You’re teaching kids not to fight through adversity when you’re having kids able to transfer two or three or four times.”
As for NIL, he momentarily pondered if anything might have been different for him had a similar system been in place when he was at Florida State.
“It probably wouldn’t have (changed),” said Sanders, a college and pro football hall of famer. “I’ve had a pretty good run. I’m still running, too — still high stepping. I’m probably in the third quarter of this game (of life) and we’re winning. We’re up by about 21. I’m loving life.”
___
AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football
Want more sports news? Sign up for the Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver’s teams.
-
Entertainment11 seconds ago
Yes, Zendaya and Tom Holland have already tied the knot. The groom confirmed it himself
-
Lifestyle12 minutes agoInside the L.A. club where dads swap kid chaos for golf and grounding exercises
-
Politics15 minutes agoPeople are betting on elections in prediction markets. Congress is watching
-
Science20 minutes agoEl Niño turns crumbling California pier into climate battleground over what to save — and who pays
-
Sports27 minutes agoBrendan Sorsby decides not to play for Texas Tech amid controversy over his eligibility
-
World35 minutes agoIsrael seizes power over occupied West Bank mosque from Palestinians
-
News1 hour agoTrump further guts Education Dept. by shifting oversight of special ed, civil rights
-
Los Angeles, Ca2 hours agoSuspicious item leads to closure of Metro station on Tuesday morning
