The exclusive sunglasses collaboration between Colorado State football head coach Deion Sanders and Blenders Eyewear has turned out to be a productive partnership.
According to On3 CEO Chase Fisher to Pete Nakos, approximately 65,000 to 70,000 pairs of sunglasses (and counting) have already been pre-ordered ahead of the September 17 launch. 20. He also confirmed Sanders’ previous mention of $1.2 million in sales on Friday alone:
Things were going so well that Fisher compared Sanders’ impact to Michael Jordan’s impact on Nike.
“I never knew what it felt like to go viral, and now I do,” Fisher said. “I think this is one of the greatest right place, right time brand moments in the history of social media. So, it throws us all into a full circle. No one could have predicted it would be this big. … This This is going to be a huge opportunity for Prime and Blenders and a great partnership for many years to come. In my opinion, that’s Nike and Jordan.
“We found our Jordan.”
The “Prime 21” shades are priced at $67 each, so if Fisher’s estimate is accurate, pre-sale revenue would have been at least $4,355,000 by the time he spoke to On3.
Sanders’ Buffaloes are the talk of college football. The Pro Football Hall of Famer came to Boulder with a big promotion from Jackson State, and so far it’s paid off.
Colorado has tripled its win total from last season (three so far) and currently ranks No. 19 in the AP poll.
Buffalo stayed undefeated on Saturday, defeating Colorado State 43-35 in double overtime. Before the game, Colorado State head coach Jay Norvell praised Sanders for his signature sunglasses and hoodie.
This has put sunglasses in the spotlight in the college football world.Sanders also took the ball and ran with it as much as possible, notably using it as motivation for the team and even gifted sunglasses to ESPN first shoot all staff.
The sunglasses theme is behind us, and Colorado now looks to beat No. 10 Oregon State on Saturday in Eugene. However, Blenders’ business is definitely booming, obviously thanks to Saunders and his red-hot team.