With expenses rising across college sports, athletics departments are looking for ways to balance their budgets.
The University of North Carolina athletics department is seeking permission this week from its board of trustees to withdraw $9 million from a “quasi-endowment fund” to help with its budget.
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The money is to “address increasing operational demands and support the athletics financial plan during fiscal year 2027,” according to an agenda item. The UNC Board of Trustees meets Wednesday and Thursday in Chapel Hill.
UNC had a $15-million deficit in athletics last year that it covered with reserves. The Tar Heels spent $187.9 million on athletics and generated $172.9 million during the 2024-25 academic year, both school records. Those totals are expected to climb with the introduction of direct revenue sharing with college athletes.
NC State, too, is seeking more athletics revenue. The athletics department is asking its board of trustees this week to approve a naming rights proposal for a newly renovated dining hall and recreation room in the Wendell H. Murphy Football Center.
The department is seeking $2 million for the naming rights to the “modern space designed to support student-athlete nutrition, recovery and performance while enhancing the overall student-athlete experience.” The gifts would be directed to the Carter-Finley Capital Fund. The board meets Wednesday and Thursday in Raleigh.
NC State plays its home football games at Cater-Finley Stadium. The dining room wouldn’t be the first part of the football building to have an official name. In the Murphy Football Center, NC State has the Gunter/Blank Family Strength & Conditioning Center.
The UNC Board of Governors, which oversees schools in the UNC System, said last week that it could consider limits on spending and subsidies for college athletics.
"Athletics matter to who we are,” said Kirk Bradley, the chairman of the board’s budget committee. “The question this board will wrestle with is never whether athletics matter, it's how we sustain what matters on a sound financial footing."
