As athletes’ pay soars, some states are finding creative ways to boost college sports budgets

Win or lose, the North Carolina Tar Heels already will be in elite company when they kick off the college football season against Texas Christian University in a game played in Dublin. They will be among a small but growing number of athletic programs receiving taxpayer funding from their home states. With universities competing to pay athletes millions of dollars, some states now are propping up their strained sports budgets in ways not previously seen. The state dollars aren’t going directly…