Bubba Cunningham reveals how North Carolina will split rev-share in 2025-26
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Outgoing North Carolina athletic director Bubba Cunningham has shared details about how UNC will deploy some of its resources for 2025-26.
For the first time in 2025-26, athletic departments can pay student-athletes directly — up to a cap of about $20.5 million for the year. Most power-conference athletic departments are expected to fully fund their rev-share programs, with the majority those resources going to football and basketball rosters.
Cunningham said on the Carolina Insider podcast this week that the Tar Heels will devote $13 million to football, $7 million to men’s basketball and about $250,000 to baseball for the upcoming campaign.
NIL deals could also continue to be part of player compensation packages on top of revenue-share earnings, although those agreements are expected to be more heavily scrutinized moving forward. The numbers quoted by Cunningham appear to be strictly referring to revenue-share payments.
North Carolina basketball is entering a pivotal season under Hubert Davis and will likely have one of the highest-paid rosters in the country in 2025-26. Carolina is 30-10 in ACC play over the past 2 years, but struggled last season and settled for a No. 11 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Carolina football is set to enter a new era this fall with Bill Belichick taking over at the helm. It’s unclear how much NIL support Belichick’s staff will receive on top of the $13 million the Tar Heels are set to devote to roster-building
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
