The students have returned to the UNC campus, we have official events on the books, and in two weeks football will be running out on the field for perhaps the most closely-watched game they\u2019ve had in close to 30 years.<\/p>\n
All of this is the basis for Bubba Cunningham\u2019s appearance on the Carolina Insider that fellow Tar Heel Blog writer Thomas Blackington <\/a>discussed yesterday. Cunningham put actual numbers to the way that UNC has chosen to divvy up the revenue as part of the House Settlement. Thomas noted the model is different than other schools and that difference, of course, sparks discussion.<\/p>\n For instance, take a note of this post by fellow SB Nation writer Mitchell Northam after Cunningham talked about the women\u2019s basketball numbers.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a thought-provoking thread and worth a discussion. No one can doubt where Northam is coming from, as he\u2019s even followed the UNC Women\u2019s Basketball team<\/a> for a full season. That said, the schools he cites as ones that are investing heavily in women\u2019s basketball all have one big thing in common that Carolina doesn\u2019t\u2014bigger revenues. With South Carolina\/LSU as part of the SEC and USC\/UCLA as part of the Big Ten, both have more money coming in from their respective conference deals to where they can afford to take losses in women\u2019s basketball in order to keep them on the national scene.<\/p>\n There\u2019s also another huge difference\u2014fewer sports. UNC currently has 28 varsity sports, and as Cunningham noted in the podcast they were able to take money from the state to make sure that now all of the scholarships for every sport is fully funded. The schools mentioned above? They participate in anywhere from 21-25 varsity sports. So, you have fewer sports and fewer athletes plus more revenue to be able to disperse, and very quickly you are running into a situation where you have more money to spend on other sports.<\/p>\n Women\u2019s sports are absolutely worth investing in, and Cunningham realizes this. Look no further than both the volleyball and softball squads, where recent hires have raised UNC\u2019s profiles and have them competing at the NCAA level for the first time in a while \u2014 and they are still growing.<\/p>\n The problem is that there is only so much to go around, and right now there are two programs on campus that are huge revenue drivers \u2014 football and men\u2019s basketball. Even at the schools Northam cites in the thread, they aren\u2019t able to invest that money without the emphasis on football that brought those programs to higher paying conferences. If LSU was struggling to fill Death Valley, you can bet they wouldn\u2019t have as much to pay Kim Mulkey.<\/p>\n The other unfortunate part about the revenue share this year is, because the two big UNC revenue sports struggled last season, you can argue you have to spend more money to make sure they are successful and can bring in more. It\u2019s a rising tide floats all boats situation. As someone who has gone to several events at Carolina that were not men\u2019s basketball and football, I can in fact confirm that the main revenue drivers for the school are those two.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also worth mentioning that while it\u2019s obvious that UNC women\u2019s coach Courtney Banghart clearly wanted a higher number, she\u2019s using what she got. Getting Kate Harpring to commit<\/a> is a sign that Banghart is getting at least some resources from UNC \u2014 to the point that the number one recruit in the 2026 class will go to Carolina. Harpring clearly committed knowing what UNC was investing in women\u2019s basketball and was satisfied with it over the likes of Alabama, Georgia, and Iowa<\/a>.<\/p>\n It is frustrating that the women\u2019s sports keep getting the shorter end of the stick, and this is in no way trying to say \u201cbe happy they got anything.\u201d This revenue disparity is the NCAA\u2019s fault, as they still refuse to separate out the women\u2019s tournament from the rest of the NCAA Championships. The NCAA gets over $1 billion annually for the men\u2019s tournament<\/a> and just $115 million for the women\u2019s tournament <\/a>as well as every other tournament.<\/p>\n Just this discussion is a microcosm of why UNC is looking to get out of the ACC. Still, there\u2019s a chance there\u2019ll be more money available next season. With the new revenue share model for the ACC based on ratings, and the chances that Carolina will be in some of the higher rated ACC contests of the season in both football and basketball, hopefully there\u2019ll be some more money that\u2019ll be available to be funneled to the women\u2019s teams and set them up for long-term success.<\/p>\n