It\u2019s not every day that college football\u2019s cash factor gets a new playbook, but here we are. The CFB landscape seems to have added a new element to its wiring, and it\u2019s all merry for the student-athletes, especially football. Well\u2026let\u2019s zoom back a couple of weeks. Judge Claudia Wilken gave a green signal to the House vs. NCAA Settlement, bringing financial security to student-athletes. According to the settlement, programs are allowed to compensate their players, and the budget cap is set at a whopping $20.5 million. Provided with a new structure to work with, programs are grappling to manage the cap. So, what\u2019s the latest intel at Chapel Hill?<\/p>\n
Well, the popular cash slice among different sports verticals is about 75-15-5-5. To elaborate, 75% for football, 15% for men\u2019s basketball, and another 5% for women\u2019s basketball. The rest? Distributed among the remaining verticals. Texas has it this way, but UNC has gone about it with a different approach. In a podcast with Carolina Insider, AD Bubba Cunningham<\/strong> shared UNC\u2019s breakdown of the $20 million cap.<\/p>\n Cunningham revealed that the majority chunk will go to football. \u201cThe settlement itself from the House case is 75-15-5-5: 75% to football, 15% to men\u2019s basketball, 5% to women\u2019s basketball, 5% to everybody else,\u201d he stated. But instead of 75%, it will be 65% for Bill Belichick\u2019<\/strong>s Tar Heels. Then the remaining 35% of the cash pie will go towards men\u2019s basketball.<\/p>\n ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cOurs is broken down 65% to football, 35% to men\u2019s basketball. I know that\u2019s 100 right there, so we don\u2019t quite go over 100%, but that\u2019s roughly where it is. And then baseball is next, and women\u2019s basketball is fourth,\u201d he added. Men\u2019s baseball and women\u2019s basketball will receive a relatively minuscule amount of $250,000 each.<\/p>\n UNC rev share: $13M football, $7M men\u2019s basketball, $250K to baseball and women\u2019s basketball. Women\u2019s basketball payroll over $1M. Rev share for those sports that drive commercial activity, additional scholarships for other sports, per Bubba Cunningham on Carolina Insider pod.<\/p>\n \u2014 Brian Murphy (@murphsturph) August 15, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The division is based on how much revenue these sports generate, and it will adjust after this year based on what financial figures look like. So, the Tar Heels football team will receive a $13 million chunk. The men\u2019s basketball team will receive $7 million. This distribution is as per the percentage of revenue that UNC\u2019s football and men\u2019s basketball programs generate. In 2022-23, the two programs generated 71% of the total revenue. That decreased to 60.2% in the following fiscal year. That doesn\u2019t explain why the two programs will get almost 100% of the total cap,\u00a0but with Bill Belichick\u2019s arrival at UNC, the revenue is only going to increase.<\/p>\n In addition to that, for the women\u2019s basketball team under head coach Courtney Banghart, the payroll will be over $1 million. \u201cCourtney had done such an incredible job of fundraising, so her payroll, if you will, is over a million dollars this year for the women\u2019s basketball team,\u201d Cunningham said. \u201cSo that\u2019s very competitive with some of the top programs in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n So, yes, the numbers look a bit daunting right now, but that\u2019s when UNC\u2019s $150 million athletic budget might help out other varsity sports.<\/p>\n Can UNC\u2019s $150 million athletic budget offer some respite?<\/p>\n Well, UNC already operated in a revenue-sharing model based on the finances generated by football and men\u2019s basketball, supporting other athletic programs as well. Now, on the heels of the House settlement, they will operate differently. \u201cFootball and basketball generate a lot of money, and we shared it with all of our teams,\u201d Cunningham said. \u201cSo we are continuing to sponsor 28 teams, and we\u2019re continuing to offer championship experiences. But for the commercial activity, I thought it was best to give it to those that generated it.\u201d<\/p>\n ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n For sure, due to the roster limits, they will have fewer student-athletes, but UNC is going to have more scholarships. \u201c.With tuition remission that the state provides us, we can provide more scholarships to our Olympic sport programs than ever before, and that\u2019s going to help sustain them,\u201d he added. In the 2024-25 athletic year, the program supported 530 student-athletes with a mixed bag of partial and full scholarships. That amount is equivalent to the cost of funding 330 full rides.<\/p>\n Also, for the 2024-25 cycle, UNC had an athletic budget of $150 million, which is expected to notch up by an additional $30 million scoop for the next academic year. But not every program is financially robust. Josh Allen\u2019s alma mater, Wyoming, could only scoop out $2.5 million. Whereas the Bay Area rivals might shake hands<\/a>, given Cal\u2019s financial precarity.<\/p>\n\n