Deion Sanders will always turn lemons into lemonade.
The University of Colorado Boulder (CU) football coach landed a deal with Blenders Eyewear earlier this year, according to USA Today. On Sept. 15, 2023, the brand announced it will be releasing a new sunglasses line inspired by “Coach Prime” in October with pre-order already available.
What’s more, the company will serve as CU Athletics’ “preferred” eyewear partner, per a news release.
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“I’m not new to this, I’m TRUE 2 THIS! And the Blenders Eyewear family and myself certainly see eye 2 eye on our commitment to QUALITY and STYLE,” Sanders said in the news release. “This collaboration is much larger than our shared love for fashion and eyewear. See, eyewear is much larger than just fashion. It’s an outlet to EXPRESS YOURSELF, it’s a CONVERSATION STARTER, it sets the DARN TONE! Look good, feel good, PLAY GOOD!”
Ahead of the match up between the Colorado Buffaloes and Colorado State on Saturday, Sept. 16, Sanders received flak from rival coach Jay Norvell for his routine fashion statements that include wearing sunglasses.
Sanders decided to strike while the iron was hot and leveraged the moment to market his sunglasses line. He gave each player on his team their own pair of Blenders Eyewear, which went viral on social media.
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“They don’t realize, not only are we gonna kick their butts because it’s personal, but it’s going be business, but it’s also pleasure. When I say business, Blenders, I do a line of shades with Blenders. This is one of the first lines, so they don’t realize they just help me with business,” Sanders told his team, according to a video shared on Instagram.
What followed, was a masterclass in marketing. Sanders leveraged all the attention from the game, handing Hollywood actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and sports commentators Stephen A. Smith and Shannon Sharpe, among others, a pair of Blenders Eyewear.
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Following Norvell’s comment, from Sept. 15 alone, the company pocketed $1.2 million in sales, according to Bleacher Report.
Deion Sanders recently launched a line of custom sunglasses with Blenders Eyewear.
So when the Colorado St. head coach commented on him wearing them during interviews, Sanders took advantage.
Coach Prime handed them out to the entire team, which went viral on social media. And… pic.twitter.com/3kw9tPpYGQ
— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) September 16, 2023
“He had no idea about what was about to come,” Blenders Founder and CEO Chase Fisher said, according to USA TODAY. “The timing of it was great with the game back in Boulder and us dropping the line. You couldn’t have written a better script. It was perfect.”
At the moment, it is unclear how Sanders will directly profit from the increase in sales. However, he is expected to receive royalties from his “Prime” line of eyewear with the company, the outlet reports.
