FORT COLLINS — John Weber better work it. Could RuPaul make CSU fashionable again? Could Parker Schnabel, star of “Gold Rush,” hit the jackpot in FoCo?
There are two paths for Rams football to get the eyes, ears and purse strings of the folks who write the checks — network executives, corporate sponsors and private equity.
Either Weber, the Rams’ new athletic director, needs to hire a reality show star to coach his football team, and launch a circus to compete with CU’s, which keeps raking in the bucks with Deion Sanders despite middling results on the field, or …
He needs Jay Norvell to win. Like, now.
“We’re incredibly supportive of the team and culture that Coach Norvell has built here,” Weber told me during a sit-down inside the CSU administrative offices earlier this month. “He has demonstrated what he’s been able to accomplish in the last couple of years.
“And headed into this year, he’s got a couple of top recruiting classes that he’s brought in now for a couple of years. And we fully expect that that team is going to compete well this fall. So we are all really excited about where we’re headed.”
The Rams should’ve bowled last fall. Right? CSU’s roster featured the most exciting offensive weapon in the Mountain West (receiver Tory Horton), the scariest pass-rusher in the league (Mo Kamara) and an improved offensive line. Only karma turned its back on Norvell time and again, with four of seven losses over a 5-7 campaign coming by nine points or fewer.
Glass half-full? The Rams were right there with just about everybody on the dance card, save for that Week 1 stinker at home against Washington State. Going from three wins in ’22 to five showed a train moving forward, even if it came in fits and starts. Horton’s back, and so is young quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi, despite allegations of poaching from other schools and NIL temptations.
So with a potential House vs. NCAA settlement adding to his bills and his budget, I asked Weber, a Rams alum who’s now Norvell’s boss, what’s a fair bar for Year 3. Six wins? A bowl?
“That certainly, I think, is a fair expectation as we go into the fall if we’re going to improve from where we were,” he replied.
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“It’s what we want to see all the time, is that we want to see improvement. And we are well down that path of seeing that. And we’ll see on game days in the fall just how well that’s going. And we’re honestly really excited about the start of football season.”
That excitement could well be epic when the Rocky Mountain Showdown makes its Canvas Stadium debut on Sept. 14. Does that necessitate, I wondered, plans for stepped-up security or logistical considerations with CU and Coach Prime coming to town? Especially in the context of what happened in last fall’s game between Travis Hunter and Henry Blackburn?
“There is no question that hosting the Rocky Mountain Showdown (in Fort Collins) for the first time since 1996 is especially exciting,” Weber replied.
“Truthfully, we have been laser-focused on making sure all home events create an exceptional experience for all fans. We fully understand that there is a lot of anticipation and excitement for Saturday, Sept. 14. We are working hard and will be well-prepared for campus and Fort Collins to be buzzing the entire weekend. I am incredibly grateful for a lot of outstanding collaboration by everyone on our campus, in our community, and at CU, who are working to be sure we have a safe and fun in-state rivalry game at Canvas Stadium.”
Weber’s star has risen fast in administrative circles, with the former head of the Green and Gold Guard Collective, CSU’s NIL arm, replacing Joe Parker as athletic director this past February. He received a five-year contract when he was given the job permanently in May. As for his relationship with CU AD Rick George, who’s discussed retirement after his contract with the Buffs ends in June 2027, well …
“I really have a lot of respect for Rick,” Weber replied. “I have only visited briefly with him to date, but I am looking forward to working together with him soon.”
And the future of the Rocky Mountain Showdown, which takes a five-year break after 2024, before renewing for dates at Fort Collins in ’29, ’34 and ’38, and at Boulder in ’30, ’33 and ’37?
“The entire state of Colorado benefits when our athletic programs compete,” Weber replied. “We certainly believe this historic series is important and want to see it continue in all sports annually, but I don’t have any new information to share.”
At the moment, one of the biggest dragons for Weber to slay is finding new revenue streams. And bigger revenue streams in a post-House vs. NCAA world.
To oversimplify, Division I football schools could need anywhere from $20 million to $30 million in extra revenue annually to account for compensating student-athletes and other considerations. A Group of Five program such as Rams football needs to land close to that sweet spot in order to compete for coaches, staffers and recruits.
To put in perspective the gap between CU, a middle-to-high-middle Power 4 program, and CSU, one of the bigger fish in the high-mid-major pond, just compare the television payouts.
The Buffs are expected to rake in roughly $32 million annually in broadcast revenues through 2031 as members of the Big 12. CSU is earmarked to collect $4 million a year through 2026 with the Mountain West.
Experts estimate the Big 12 selling naming rights to a corporation and becoming, say, “The Allstate 12” might be worth an additional $3 million per year to CU. So what could “CSU Football presented by Cheba Hut” be worth to the Rams?
“We’ve got to be aggressive from that perspective,” Weber said. “And I’ve talked to a lot of people over the last couple of months as well about us being very innovative … we’re going to have to think very differently. We’re going to have to find streams of revenue that haven’t existed here before.
“We’re sitting in a building right now that’s connected to Moby Arena that’s not named. We’ve got soccer and softball complexes out here that aren’t named. So there are some very obvious opportunities, along those lines, along with some of the changes that you’re talking about — on-field, to players and jerseys, doing more from a brand sponsorship perspective.”
Nothing pays the bills quite like winning, though. As Schnabel once said, some pretty big headwinds are coming. And Canvas, where the honeymoon ended ages ago, won’t fill itself.
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