Bill Belichick is good for business.
Via Axios.com, North Carolina A.D. Bubba Cunningham recently said the Tar Heels have sold out their allotment of 20,000 season tickets. The program failed to do that in 2024.
The sellout happened despite a 25-percent increase in season-ticket costs. Cunningham said the school received no pushback on the price hike.
With an uptick in prime-time games, the program expects to make significantly more money in the first year of the Belichick era.
These developments give Belichick more leverage as it relates to the power struggle flowing from Belichick’s recent P.R. debacle. As of June 1, he can walk away by refunding $1 million of the prorated $10 million annual salary he has already received. Without Belichick, the Tar Heels would suddenly have far less sizzle.
That’s the most important point to remember as the buyout plunges from $10 million to $1 million in only 13 days. It was never about North Carolina firing Belichick and owing him the balance of his five-year, $50 million contract. It was never about Belichick jumping back to the NFL, primarily since no NFL team wants him.
It’s all about what it would cost Belichick to pack up his moth-ridden Navy gear and retreat to Nantucket.
As of June 1, Belichick’s leverage comes from the ability to write a $1 million check and abandon ship. Which would leave North Carolina high and dry when it comes to justifying its enhanced revenue streams.
And if you think someone as strategic and calculating as Belichick isn’t acutely aware of the power he’s soon to acquire in the broader push-and-pull with the university, you don’t know very much about him at all.
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