UNC Board of Governors approves $1 million in deferred pay for Steve Newmark
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- UNC Board approved $1 million deferred pay for incoming AD Steve Newmark.
- Newmark’s base salary starts at $600,000, rising to $1 million in 2026.
- UNC will fund two AD salaries in 2026–27 during leadership transition.
On Thursday, the UNC Board of Governors approved the deferred compensation and buyout terms for Steve Newmark, who will succeed outgoing athletic director Bubba Cunningham next year, as part of UNC’s 24-month leadership transition plan.
The deferred compensation terms, laid out in Newmark’s contract and released in August, include $50,000 payments:
- On Sept. 30 and Dec. 31 for the calendar year 2025
- On March 31, June 30, Sept. 30 and Dec. 31 for calendar years 2026-2029
- On March 31 and June 30 for the calendar year 2030
That adds up to $1 million of deferred compensation (defined as a portion of an employee’s salary delayed for future payment) between Sept. 30 and June 2030. Newmark’s deferred compensation payments will be made by the university as “fully vested contributions” to UNC’s “Senior Athletic Employee Retirement Program,” according to his contract.
Newmark’s annual base salary begins at $600,000, which will become $1 million for each year following his transition date. On that date — currently pegged as July 1, 2026 — Newmark will take over for Cunningham as athletic director.
A committee of the Board of Governors approved the deferred compensation and buyout terms in closed session Wednesday before bringing them to the full board in open session Thursday, where they were approved.
The terms required approval by the Board of Governors, which oversees all public universities in the state, because they included deferred compensation for Newmark.
As part of Cunningham’s recent contract extension, the current athletic director is set to receive $903,000 in base compensation for each of the next two years. That includes his first year serving in the new role of “senior advisor.”
UNC will be paying, effectively, two athletic director salaries for the 2026-27 academic year.
In the event of termination, Newmark’s contract states deferred compensation for that year “shall be prorated based on completed months of service during the contract year.”
This story will be updated.
This story was originally published September 18, 2025 at 3:48 PM.