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Colorado Opens Practice but Bars All Reporting

The athletic department collected phones and banned note-taking and recording while warning that violations could lead to credential revocation, a move that signals tighter control over the program's public narrative.

Overview

  • The open practice in Boulder, which took place Wednesday, allowed fans and media to watch on-field work but came with a strict written order that nothing observed could be reported, posted, broadcast, or shared.
  • Colorado's email to reporters explicitly banned note-taking, photography, videography, audio recording, sketching, diagramming, live posting, and other forms of documentation.
  • Attendees were required to surrender phones at the gate and were told violations could result in removal from the facility, loss of media credentials, and restricted future access under CU Athletics policy.
  • Reporters who attended confirmed they watched the practice but were instructed not to file any reports about injuries, personnel groupings, plays, or player performance, and the full email was made public when it was circulated online.
  • Observers say the restrictions are unusually strict compared with typical college-practice access and that the tactic, now public, could strain local media relations and set a precedent for how programs trade open access for control; fans who attended largely reported a positive in-person experience.