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.
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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
Colorado
New law seeks to help Colorado counties comply with state landfill emission rules, avoid major spike in trash fees
A new law signed by Colorado Gov. Jared Polis seeks to help county landfills comply with state emission-reduction requirements without having to dramatically increase trash fees.
Senate Bill 101 allows landfill owners to apply for grant money to help pay for new methane capture and monitoring infrastructure. It was signed by Polis on May 21.
The measure came in response to concerns from rural county officials who said complying with the new mandates would mean potentially having to hike trash collection fees, commonly called tipping fees, to help cover the costs.
“I think we have a responsibility as a state to control methane and keep our air clean and do what we can to combat climate change,” state Sen. Dylan Roberts, a Frisco Democrat and one of the bill’s lead sponsors, said during a legislative hearing in April. “The reality on the ground is that counties have to grapple with the costs of that.”
Under rules passed last year by the Colorado Air Quality Control Commission, public and private landfills that meet certain thresholds for methane emissions must install new pollutant control and monitoring systems, end open flare burning of methane and be equipped with biofilters.
Landfills are the third-largest emitter of methane in Colorado, according to state data, and the second-largest driver of climate change after carbon dioxide. While methane has a shorter lifespan than carbon dioxide, it is also more potent, with a warming effect that is 86 times stronger than carbon dioxide over a 20–year-period, according to the Climate and Clean Air Coalition.
The new rules go into effect in 2029, though some landfills have up to three years after that to install the emission capture and monitoring technology.
Mountain counties with publicly-owned landfills estimate the costs of installing new equipment alone will be in the millions. In Garfield County, officials project the upfront cost of new equipment and technology could be around $2 million to $2.5 million. In Summit County, costs are projected to be around $3 million, while in Pitkin County, officials are estimating about $3.5 million.
Under the newly-signed bill, counties will be able to apply for funding from the state’s community impact cash fund, which primarily goes toward environmental projects in communities affected by air pollution.
The bill does not stipulate how much funding will be made available from the fund for landfill projects, but it does require the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to prioritize funding for publicly-owned landfills over private ones. Last year, the fund was estimated to have around $9 million, though about $5 million was diverted to the state’s general fund for the upcoming fiscal year’s budget to help close a roughly $1 billion spending gap.
Kelly Flenniken, executive director for Colorado Counties, Inc., a nonprofit representing all 64 of the state’s counties, said she hopes the opportunity for new state funding will help mitigate the need for local governments to raise trash fees. But she added it won’t be a complete solution.
“Some counties, depending on how big their landfill is and what the estimate was for that equipment, still may need to raise some fees,” Flenniken said, noting that counties will also be in competition with one another for funding.
Supporters of the bill had initially hoped to go further by giving counties more leeway when it came to complying with the new methane rules. Initially, the bill would have created a waiver process for landfill owners to request more time for compliance and would have shielded landfills from penalties for noncompliance if they could show that the reason was purely due to financial inability.
Those provisions were stripped after facing pushback from environmental groups, who felt the original bill would allow landfill owners to skirt the state’s clean air rules and could jeopardize climate goals.
“It’s not necessarily the pinnacle solution we were hoping for, but we do feel like it will certainly offset (costs) in a tremendous way that will help Coloradans not have to pay a lot more to dispose of their trash properly,” Flenniken said of the bill’s final version. “I don’t think it solves the whole problem, but I do think it helps.”
The Colorado Buffaloes added two four-star recruits in the course of two days. Offensive tackle Li’Marcus Jones and wide receiver Jaiden Kelly-Murray committed to the Buffs on Saturday and Sunday, respectively, per On3. The site also lists both as four-star recruits
With these major additions to their 2027 class, the Buffaloes now sit much higher in both the national and Big 12 recruiting rankings. Per On3, Colorado has the No. 2 recruiting class in the Big 12 and the No. 38 class nationally.
How the Colorado Buffaloes’ 2027 Recruiting Class Stacks Up Against the Big 12
With the additions of Jones, Kelly-Murray and underrated cornerback Prince Washington, the Buffaloes reached the top five of the Big 12 in recruiting rankings. The Buffaloes rank second in the Big 12 per On3 and fourth per 247Sports. The former gives the Buffaloes a class rating of 86.412, only trailing the Texas Tech Raiders’ class, which is rated a 93.413.
Colorado is tied with the Red Raiders with nine total recruits, a total that ranks third in the Big 12. The primary difference between the two classes is the Red Raiders’ two top recruits, who are among the best overall prospects in the nation. Those players are five-star defensive lineman Jalen Brewster, who is On3’s top-rated player nationally, and five-star edge rusher Anthony Sweeney.
The reputation Texas Tech has built for its ability to develop premier pass rushers is what makes it such a draw for these high-end recruits. Colorado has been pursuing pass rushers in its own right, adding Ba’Roc Willis and Kenny Fairley, both of whom are listed as three-star recruits by On3.
But Texas Tech freshly sent edge rusher David Bailey to the NFL after developing him from a decent contributor in the pass rush to a dominant force in just one year as a Red Raider. Still, despite that reputation, Colorado has been competitive with Texas Tech on the recruiting trail and is hot on its tail after an eventful week of commitments.
The Colorado Buffaloes’ National Recruiting Rankings Climb
The Buffaloes also saw a major jump in the national rankings, entering the top 40 of both On3 and 247Sports’ rankings. The former has the Buffs listed as having the No. 38 recruiting class nationally, whereas the latter ranks them 35th in the country.
Colorado has come a long way since mid-May, when it held a sub-top-50 recruiting class in both sites’ rankings.
How the Colorado Buffaloes Generated a Burst of Recruiting Commitments
That climb was no coincidence, though. Colorado held a major recruiting weekend from May 15 through May 17. It hosted four four-star recruits and several additional recruits with three-star and below ratings on official visits during that stretch, according to LockedOnBuffs.
Jones and Willis were among those in attendance, in addition to safety/quarterback Gabe Jenkins. The two-way player is a four-star recruit according to both On3 and 247Sports, with the former announcing his commitment on May 20.
Deion Sanders and his staff are ahead of the curve when it comes to their 2027 class, and as the summer rolls along, the Buffs will look to climb even higher in the national rankings.
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