Two weeks before Bill Belichick\u2019s much-anticipated debut as North Carolina head coach, the program\u2019s general manager, Michael Lombardi, traveled to Saudi Arabia to gauge interest in whether the country\u2019s Public Investment Fund (PIF) would be interested in investing in Tar Heels football, UNC vice chancellor for communications Dean Stoyer confirmed to The Athletic.<\/p>\n
That visit came \u201cat the invitation of the Saudis,\u201d Stoyer said, and the university was aware of it before Lombardi traveled to Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n
Stoyer, who characterized the visit as an \u201cexploratory fundraising trip,\u201d said neither university nor athletic funds were used to pay for Lombardi\u2019s trip. The Saudi government paid for it, Stoyer said, though it is unclear whether Lombardi also used personal funds.<\/p>\n
Lombardi\u2019s trip did not culminate in any sort of agreement between Belichick\u2019s football program and the PIF. It is not clear whether any follow-up meetings or conversations took place.<\/p>\n
Lombardi declined to comment.<\/p>\n
The trip was first hinted at by Pablo Torre, host of the podcast \u201cPablo Torre Finds Out,\u201d on the social media platform X Thursday afternoon. The show is part of The Athletic\u2019s podcast network.<\/p>\n
Lombardi\u2019s trip is not the first time in recent years that North Carolina has explored alternative revenue streams to subsidize its athletic department. According to public records obtained by The Athletic, athletic director Bubba Cunningham had several meetings in 2023 with private equity firms \u201cregarding all things college athletics, revenue generation, and conference realignment,\u201d according to one email thread. Cunningham and UNC ultimately opted not to move forward with any such negotiations after preliminary discussions.<\/p>\n
The PIF has become one of the most powerful players in the global sports market in recent years. It bankrolls the LIV Golf tour, an upstart that once rivaled the PGA Tour that is now in discussions about a merger. It owns a majority stake in Newcastle United in the English Premier League and has stakes in mixed martial arts with the Professional Fighters League (PFL). It has organized Formula 1 events in Saudi Arabia, has multi-year partnership deals with professional tennis circuits and ambitious plans in boxing.<\/p>\n
In late September, the video game company Electronic Arts (EA) announced the PIF and two other investors had agreed to a $55 billion purchase of the company. EA, the parent company of EA Sports, recently brought back its popular college football video game in 2024 after an 11-year absence. It quickly became the best-selling sports video game in U.S. history. The Athletic has a commercial partnership with EA Sports.<\/p>\n