ESPN aims to replicate Deion Sanders' success with Bill Belichick at UNC in 2025.
ESPN Places Bets on Bill Belichick to Re-create Deion Sanders’ Prime Effect originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
ESPN isn’t waiting for Bill Belichick to call a single play in Chapel Hill. The network is already stacking the deck in his favor, betting big on the Belichick buzz to deliver a “Prime Effect” level of interest for North Carolina Tar Heels football in 2025.
According to Front Office Sports, ESPN platforms are slated to televise as many as 10 of UNC’s games this season, including prime-time matchups like the Labor Day opener vs. the TCU Horned Frogs, a Friday night ACC clash with the California Golden Bears on Oct. 17 and a Halloween showdown with the Syracuse Orange. Even Belichick’s first road game, Sept. 6 at the Charlotte 49ers, will stream exclusively on ESPN+.
The strategy mirrors what ESPN did when Deion Sanders took over the Colorado Buffaloes. Coach Prime turned every Buffaloes game into a must-watch event, and ESPN capitalized with massive ratings boosts.
Despite the Buffaloes' decline in relevance in college football over recent years, Sanders' arrival brought millions of eyeballs to the program in a short period. ESPN wants lightning to strike again, but this time for Belichick and the Tar Heels.
ESPN networks are poised to show 8, if not 10, of Bill Belichick’s first games as North Carolina head coach, sources tell FOS.
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) July 24, 2025
Can ESPN recreate the “Deion effect?”
“We have to wait and see. The potential is there.”
Now, the Worldwide Leader is hoping for a repeat in Chapel Hill, even if ESPN’s Kurt Dargis isn’t quite ready to crown Belichick just yet. “The potential is there,” Dargis said. “There’s definitely interest in him outside the typical college football fan.”
Belichick hasn’t coached a down yet, but he already has moved the needle. Season and single-game tickets for the Tar Heels are completely sold out, marking the earliest full sellout in school history, per On3’s Brett McMurphy. That’s despite a 25% hike in ticket prices and a middling 6–6 season in 2024.
And there’s more: ESPN hopes the Oct. 4 UNC-Clemson Tigers matchup could be big enough for Pat McAfee and the rest of the "College GameDay" squad and even a broadcast slot on ABC.
With ESPN locked in as the ACC’s primary rights holder through 2036, it’s clear the network is all-in on turning “The Hoodie” into the next Coach Prime. Whether Belichick’s sideline presence delivers on the hype remains to be seen, but the spotlight is already shining bright in Chapel Hill.
Related: Belichick Bump? UNC Football Tickets Sell Out Before First Snap
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 24, 2025, where it first appeared.
Category: General Sports
