Arizona State AD Ray Anderson praises Deion Sanders

TEMPE, Ariz. — Last Saturday Arizona State welcomed Deion Sanders and Colorado to town. The game was sold out and had arguably the best atmosphere at Mountain America Stadium of the season. The Sun Devils lost in a thriller, 27-24, but Arizona State athletic director Ray Anderson was impressed. William Rhoden of Andscape was able to catch up with Anderson after the game.

Ray Anderson praises Deion Sanders

“We’re sold out for Deion Sanders and Colorado,” Anderson said. “The truth is that a lot of that is driven by the fact that it’s Deion Sanders in Colorado coming in here and people want to see it.”

Despite the sellout being for Sanders and Colorado, it still is a positive for Arizona State, as Anderson is quick to point out.

“Colorado has never produced, to my knowledge, a sellout in this stadium in the time I’ve been here,” Anderson continued. Anderson has been the athletic director at Arizona State since 2014. “What does that tell you? That tells you that everybody wins because we’ll sell more concessions. We’ll sell more hot dogs, we’ll sell more water, we’ll sell more beer. There’ll be more people paying for parking. That’s good for everybody. That’s community impact that we realize is important. You got to give Deion credit.”

The Deion Effect

Anderson and Arizona State President Michael Crow were in a position to hire Sanders in the previous offseason. However, Crow wasn’t interested. Now Anderson believes that the “Deion effect” is potentially going to change how universities look at head coaching candidates.

“That’s the Deion effect,” Anderson said. “He’s had an unbelievably positive impact because it’s forcing the rest of us to say, ‘OK, how do you attract people to your venue who just want to be entertained by stuff that’s not even happening in the field to play.’”

Last season Colorado won one game. This season they’re 4-2 halfway through the season and have generated $14 million more in ticket revenue than last season. The Buffs are also the most-watched team in college football, by far.

“What Deion has proven in very short order is that college football is entertainment,” Anderson said. “It’s not just kicking off and running on the field. It’s all the other things that you can surround your program with that makes it attractive and entertaining.”

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