‘We are all in’: NC State AD says department is meeting $20.5M revenue-sharing limit

NC State athletics director Boo Corrigan’s message to the Wolfpack faithful was simple: We are all in.

Corrigan said Friday that his department is committed to meeting the $20.5-million revenue share cap put in place for this academic year after the House settlement was finalized.

“In the new landscape of everything that’s going on, what are we going to do to be competitive?” Corrigan said Friday. “We’re going to go all in. We are all in with regards to the $20.5 million in scholarships and everything. I think it’s important for our fans to know that.”

He said Wolfpack coaches have known since October that they’d spend the full amount, but the department has not made that public.

Corrigan said NC State is spending about $2 million in new scholarships and about $2.5 million in additional Alston funding, which are about $6,000 payments for education-related expenses. The additional scholarships and Alston funding counts against the $20.5 million in revenue sharing.

The College Sports Commission, created by the four highest revenue-generating leagues including the ACC, instituted roster limits but did away with scholarship limits as part of the House settlement. 

Baseball, for example, was previously limited to 11.7 scholarships for a roster that sometimes reached 50 players. Now, baseball has 34 roster spots and all players can be on scholarship.

Corrigan said he gave each of his coaches a dollar figure.

“Here’s a number,” he said. “If you want to do that in 25 scholarships, you can do it in 25 scholarships. If you want to do it in scholarships plus Alston and lower the number of scholarships, you can do it that way. Ultimately, we trust our coaches. We want our coaches to have skin in the game. So we provided maximum flexibility for our coaches by giving them a number and then allowing them to plug the numbers they wanted to.”

Some schools, including North Carolina, have announced which programs revenue- share with athletes in addition to a significant increase in scholarships.

NC State’s athletics budget submitted to the UNC System Board of Governors had $124 million in expenses for the current fiscal year. But in a document shared with its Board of Trustees, the school showed $147.4 million in expenses adjusted for revenue sharing. Some of the difference was in how the school accounted for millions of dollars being moved between the university and the athletic department.

Corrigan said NC State has 550 athletes across 22 sports. The number will decline in the future because teams are allowed to exceed the roster limit to keep players who were on the team or promised a spot on the team before the roster limits went into place. NC State’s football team, for example, has 125 players despite the new roster limit of 105.

“Whether you’re a women’s tennis player, volleyball, cross country, wrestling, we want you to have the best experience you can have,” said Corrigan, who has been the Wolfpack’s athletics director since April 2019.

NC State has won 16 ACC titles during the last five academic years, more than anyone else in the league. The Wolfpack won titles in men’s basketball, gymnastics, women’s tennis, women’s basketball (two), men’s swimming and diving (three), women’s cross country (four) and wrestling (four). 

UNC and Duke have won 15.5 conference titles with Virginia (14.5) and Florida State (14) close behind.

“Everyone’s here to win,” Corrigan said. “And we want to be competitive on a national level. I think we’ve shown that through a number of our sports.”

Still, football and men’s basketball are the most important, a fact that Corrigan and anyone in college athletics readily acknowledge.

The football program hasn’t won an ACC title since 1979 and has never reached the ACC championship game (in part because NC State long shared a division with Clemson and Florida State). The men’s basketball program – its miraculous run to the ACC title and Final Four in 2023 notwithstanding – hasn’t been a contender in the league or nationally, something that new coach Will Wade has promised to change.

Corrigan said the program has sold 1,600 new season tickets for Wade’s first season.

“We’re very honest with our coaches,” he said. “If you talk to any of them, they understand the importance of football and specifically men’s basketball. Women’s basketball does generate revenue. Gymnastics, volleyball, wrestling, a number of our other sports do as well. But the best thing we can do is be really good at football and basketball.”