North Carolina’s athletic department made headlines with a record-setting $188 million in spending during the 2024-25 academic year - a figure that not only underscores the Tar Heels’ aggressive push to stay competitive in the evolving college sports landscape, but also reflects the broader financial arms race unfolding across the Power 4.
At the heart of that spending surge was a nearly $14 million investment in upfront payments to athletes tied to name, image, and likeness (NIL) revenue sharing - a significant step as college programs begin navigating the new era of athlete compensation. While the NCAA’s formal NIL revenue-sharing framework didn’t kick in until July, UNC got ahead of the curve with those early payments, which were categorized under “fund raising, marketing and promotion.” That line item alone jumped from $600,000 the previous year to over $14 million.
Despite the aggressive spending, UNC reported a $14 million deficit for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025. That shortfall was covered by athletic department reserves - a reminder that even blue-blood programs are walking a financial tightrope as they try to balance investment with sustainability.
But this wasn’t just about dollars and cents. The Tar Heels made major moves on the personnel front, signaling a clear shift in ambition.
The headline hire, of course, was Bill Belichick - the six-time Super Bowl champion - stepping in as head football coach. Alongside him came former NFL executive Michael Lombardi as football general manager, Jim Tanner as basketball GM, and Steve Newmark as the athletic director-in-waiting.
These hires weren’t just cosmetic; they were designed to reshape the infrastructure of UNC athletics from the top down.
Chancellor Lee Roberts made it clear: UNC is all-in on football. “The intent was to make a long-term commitment to success in football,” Roberts said in January.
“We’re not alone in that.” He’s right - across the Power 4 conferences, schools are pouring resources into football like never before.
But UNC’s $50 million, five-year deal with Belichick - and the investments surrounding it - put the Tar Heels squarely in the mix among the nation’s most ambitious programs.
And while football was a focal point, the department’s reach extended well beyond the gridiron. UNC won national championships in women’s soccer and women’s lacrosse, and made a Final Four appearance in field hockey. On the other side of the spectrum, the football team finished 6-7, while the men’s basketball team, after squeaking into the NCAA Tournament as the final team in the field of 68, bowed out in the first round.
The financial report submitted to the NCAA offers a detailed breakdown of where the money went. UNC spent roughly $35 million on coaching salaries and benefits, and another $29 million on support staff and administrative compensation - a combined increase of over $6 million from the previous year. Severance payments, all tied to the football program, added another $4 million to the ledger.
Student aid accounted for $16 million, while facilities maintenance and operations came in at $15 million. But the most eye-popping jump was in the aforementioned “fund raising, marketing and promotion” category - a clear signal of how NIL and athlete compensation are reshaping athletic department budgets.
On the revenue side, UNC’s biggest drivers were contributions ($39.5 million), media rights ($34.2 million), ticket sales ($32.1 million), and advertisements and sponsorships ($23.9 million). The department also received $8.5 million in student fees.
Football and men’s basketball remain the financial engines of the department. The football program generated $63.3 million in operating revenue against $49.1 million in expenses.
Men’s basketball brought in $39.7 million in revenue with $16.8 million in expenses. Every other sport operated at a deficit, and football and men’s hoops accounted for all but $820,000 of the department’s media rights revenue.
In total, nearly $30 million in expenses were classified as unrelated to any specific sport - a reflection of the growing costs of running a modern athletic department at a major university.
For context, rival NC State spent $134.5 million on athletics during the same period, with no significant bump in its marketing and promotion spending. Meanwhile, Texas led the pack with a staggering $376 million athletics budget, and fellow ACC member Clemson came in at $197.7 million.
In Chapel Hill, the message is clear: UNC is investing heavily - not just to keep pace, but to lead. Whether those investments pay off in wins and long-term stability remains to be seen, but one thing’s for sure - the Tar Heels aren’t sitting on the sidelines in this new era of college sports.