‘Unsustainable’: How Rutgers athletics quietly racked up $265M in debt

[Plum Street]

There is a reason President Holloway describes the financial situation with Athletics as “unsustainable” and you’ve addressed it well here. Too many people hear the words “we’ll forgive the loan”, and a forget that somebody still has to make those payments. Rutgers Athletics has been the cause of many “forgiven” loans for decades that the university has paid. Recently the situation has become untenable. A statistic that best illustrates how big the hole Rutgers is in is, “Nationally, expenses for athletic programs have swelled by 27% over a five year period for major sports programs, and Rutgers has increased more than twice that,” or 54%. Unsustainable, even with Big Ten money, whenever they get it.

Honestly , who the hell cares ? You’re a moron coming here spewing this rutgers 1000 nonsense. This is the environment we are in and chose. I get the base of what your argument is going to is - that big time athletics has no place at rutgers. It’s a fair and noble argument, but not the path most peer schools take. And most departments at rutgers “lose money”. You think rutgers is getting a good ROI on killingsworth or they got on dowling?
We all like sports here. Like it not , rutgers football and men’s basketball is the main PR branch of the university .
Most of the time any of us are even back on campus as alumni is to attend a sporting event . Next time 40k show up to watch an economics professor lecture about compounding interest let me know .

 

[RU#1fan]

Very simply, we have a spending problem compared to the amount of revenue we are taking in. Sounds like it goes well beyond the need for infrastructure improvements and that our basic operating costs well exceed what we bring in. Again NIL will create competition for limited donor funds between infrastructure improvements that should benefit a generation of student athletes and trying to compete for high level recruits who now expect a package well beyond the scholarship and stipend. Thus more pressure on the operating budget to fill the gap.

There is no chance the debt is gone within the next ten years. Those who think it will be probably also think yesterday's game was really a sell out. They only way we get out of debt more quickly is to start cutting non revenue producing sports and I would hate to see that happen.

The revenue stream needs to be increased dramatically. Only having maybe 30k in the stands on opening day is not going do it { and many of those were deeply discounted/ free tickets}. Need to get more fans in the stadium. The impact of Greg will help that. Also we know the Concessions operations is a complete disaster. If the thousands of fans will just give up on waiting on half hour lines that will cost the program millions every season.

 

[WhoRU?]

There was no way we're going to be able to be competitive in the B1G unless we dramatically increased our spending (expenditures). That meant the funds had to come from somewhere and Barchi tried to use accounting gimmicks to hide the subsidy (as revenue). The USA Today maintains this database and I think it was updated in August. We're basically tied with Purdue for spending less than the other B1G schools. Once we get a full revenue share from the conference, our budget will start to balance. We still won't spend much, but hopefully, we'll be self-sustaining. Until then, there's just no way to compete without running deficits.

It's a little ironic that the free version of the article is available on an OSU site. The other B1G schools handcuffed us from the beginning with the low payout (relative to everyone else in the conference). It's almost like they wanted our media markets, but really didn't want us to be competitive. We weren't in a position to negotiate, and they took advantage of us. I hope we kick all their asses this year!

 

[RUTGERS95]

Of course we spent more in the 5yrs, we had a liberal gov roll back state aid to mud 90s levels and we didn't fund athletics the way they should have been. The title IX expenses over the past 5yrs alone are crazy relatively speaking.

Anyone paying attention knows this. The loans will be forgiven

 

[Spursupalways]

Honestly , who the hell cares ? You’re a moron coming here spewing this rutgers 1000 nonsense. This is the environment we are in and chose. I get the base of what your argument is going to is - that big time athletics has no place at rutgers. It’s a fair and noble argument, but not the path most peer schools take. And most departments at rutgers “lose money”. You think rutgers is getting a good ROI on killingsworth or they got on dowling?
We all like sports here. Like it not , rutgers football and men’s basketball is the main PR branch of the university .
Most of the time any of us are even back on campus as alumni is to attend a sporting event . Next time 40k show up to watch an economics professor lecture about compounding interest let me know .

I love college sports when it is run honestly.

 

[RUTGERS95]

I love college sports when it is run honestly.

Lol. Now you just exposed yourself

If any responds to this clown from here on out, you're just as big a dolt

 

[patk89]

I love college sports when it is run honestly.

Rutgers has one of the cleanest athletic departments in the NCAA. "Run honestly"? Does Texas run their programs "honestly"? The SEC schools? Are you for banning major college athletics?

 

[patk89]

Lol. Now you just exposed yourself

If any responds to this clown from here on out, you're just as big a dolt

Ban that Spur fool!

 

[e5fdny]

Gannett NJ has turned into a terrible sensationalist rag. So many lame attempts at hard-hitting investigative reports.

Site. This is a site. Your grammar makes me suspect you are a Newhouse grad.

Interesting how this “story” comes out the day of the first game with a particular opponent for the next one.

 

[Knight Shift]

Interesting how this “story” comes out the day of the first game with a particular opponent for the next one.

Free link is no longer active, but the story said it was supported by Syracuse SI Newhouse School of whatever it is. 🤔

 

[Caliknight]

There's not much room to cut. We have to have at least the NCAA minimum requirement.

We are far above that.

 

[S_Janowski]

Taxpayer money is being used to operate the mess that is Rutgers Athletics. That’s my interest. You should all be concerned. Since none of you seem to have read the piece regarding athletic’s spending, here’s the lead. Please note that is President Holloway who call the financial situation “unsustainable.”


"It's unsustainable, but I don't have an answer as to what
is the sustainable piece going forward."
Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway
Speaking of the practice of borrowing more to pay off existing athletic department loans This was the year University Athletics expected to be on firm financial ground.
Instead, the athletic division has been losing more money than ever. And almost half of its $265million in outstanding debt has not gone toward new buildings -- it has instead been used solely to cover the ever-rising operating costs associated with joining the Big Ten Conference.
The university has stepped in, loaning athletics $84million over the last six years just to cover expenses -- violating its own policy, which it changed after inquiries from T he Record and NorthJersey.com.
Rutgers has been reporting those loans as revenue -- contrary to NCAA guidelines -- artificially inflating the athletic department's earnings and concealing the true budget deficit from the students, their parents and taxpayers who pay the bills, a monthslong analysis of Rutgers financial documents by The Record and NorthJersey.com has found.
Much about athletics is cloaked in secrecy -- Rutgers couldn't even supply its contract with the Big Ten, eventually admitting it doesn't have a copy.

Wait you’re so concerned about all of this because of your tax money?

I suggest you brush up on how little the state gives Rutgers every year. And how little of that amount goes towards Athletics.

In other words, you’re concerned about a few cents.

Do you have this much passion towards other projects within the state which have been complete abominations, cost billions and use way more of your tax money (i.e. Xanadu, Road projects that miss their timeline and budget)?

Or do you just have an axe to grind with RU Athletics?

 

[Caliknight]

The Syracuse guy is concerned about his cent and half.

 

[Panthergrowl13]

WOW

Someone posted this Thread on the Pitt Board discussing the $265 million in debt racked up Rutgers athletic dept.

Some were questing how many varsity sports Rutgers was covering.

Ohio State maintains 37 varsity sports programs while Alabama has 21 and Pitt has 19.

Not sure if the B1G requires a fixed number.

To be a D-1 program only requires a school to maintain a minimum of 14.

HAIL TO PITT!!!!

 

[Plum Street]

Wait you’re so concerned about all of this because of your tax money?

I suggest you brush up on how little the state gives Rutgers every year. And how little of that amount goes towards Athletics.

In other words, you’re concerned about a few cents.

Do you have this much passion towards other projects within the state which have been complete abominations, cost billions and use way more of your tax money (i.e. Xanadu, Road projects that miss their timeline and budget)?

Or do you just have an axe to grind with RU Athletics?

The guy should go gripe to his local school board if he cares so much about his taxes .

 

[Knight177lb]

We are far above that.

You have to have at least seven men's sports and we're at nine, so that leaves us with only two sports we can cut. We can't cut any women's sports because of Title IX.

If we did cut two men's sports, I wonder if that would make a difference. Out of all the men's sports, we're doing pretty well or at least have some good potential to do well in most. I don't know anything about how the golf or cross country teams are doing, so maybe they could be cut. However, how much money can that save? I doubt it's much.

Also, the Big Ten has requirements. For instance, they require a wrestling team. I'm not sure what else they require, but there may be more.

 

[czxqa]

WOW

Someone posted this Thread on the Pitt Board discussing the $265 million in debt racked up Rutgers athletic dept.

Some were questing how many varsity sports Rutgers was covering.

Ohio State maintains 37 varsity sports programs while Alabama has 21 and Pitt has 19.

Not sure if the B1G requires a fixed number.

To be a D-1 program only requires a school to maintain a minimum of 14.

HAIL TO PITT!!!!

We've got 22, 9 men's and 13 women's. But again, the real debt is only about half that number, and it's all for capital improvements. They haven't built any new facilities since the Hale Center opened in 86. RU had a lot of catching up to do.

 

[Spursupalways]

The guy should go gripe to his local school board if he cares so much about his taxes .

Wait you’re so concerned about all of this because of your tax money?

I suggest you brush up on how little the state gives Rutgers every year. And how little of that amount goes towards Athletics.

In other words, you’re concerned about a few cents.

Do you have this much passion towards other projects within the state which have been complete abominations, cost billions and use way more of your tax money (i.e. Xanadu, Road projects that miss their timeline and budget)?

Or do you just have an axe to grind with RU Athletics?

The guy should go gripe to his local school board if he cares so much about his taxes .

Good grief. It’s not about how much money, the issue is that the State shouldn’t allow taxpayer money to go the the Athletic dept. when their finances are such a mess. It’s unethical. Fund the university, but forbid Rutgers to use that money to prop up the sports programs every year.

 

[S_Janowski]

Good grief. It’s not about how much money, the issue is that the State shouldn’t allow taxpayer money to go the the Athletic dept. when their finances are such a mess. It’s unethical. Fund the university, but forbid Rutgers to use that money to prop up the sports programs every year.

Way to not answer my question!

 

[mildone]

Way to not answer my question!

Why are you guys responding seriously to a troll? All it does is encourage him. He doesn’t care about facts or logic or reality or taxes or NJ. He just wants to stir shit up.

 

[Plum Street]

Good grief. It’s not about how much money, the issue is that the State shouldn’t allow taxpayer money to go the the Athletic dept. when their finances are such a mess. It’s unethical. Fund the university, but forbid Rutgers to use that money to prop up the sports programs every year.

Because no other organization this state funds with taxpayer money is a financial mess ? Please. Rutgers athletics is less of a mess and more ethical than most

 

[T2Kplus20]

Rutgers needs to cut a number of sports. It’s really that simple.

^^^^^ The only long term solution to the problem. Must cut a bunch of the non-revenue generating sports.

 

[Plum Street]

Why are you guys responding seriously to a troll? All it does is encourage him. He doesn’t care about facts or logic or reality or taxes or NJ. He just wants to stir shit up.

Good point

 

[Bamm Bamm Rubble]

Just win baby! It's all going to pay off in the near future.

 

[mildone]

Just win baby! It's all going to pay off in the near future.

Exactly. It’s that simple.

 

[KnightClub]

Good grief. It’s not about how much money, the issue is that the State shouldn’t allow taxpayer money to go the the Athletic dept. when their finances are such a mess. It’s unethical. Fund the university, but forbid Rutgers to use that money to prop up the sports programs every year.

You could extend the argument to high school sports as well.

Also, most universities do not include facilities in the sports budgets so the ~$265 million debt should be half. ~$40 million is a loan from the B10 which is backed by guaranteed money. So, we are really looking at $92 million debt over six years (~$15 million per year). In 2021 Rutgers received ~$43 million (smaller due to Big10 loan) and will grow to ~$65 million in 2027. The numbers looks promising.

 

[Scarlet Jerry]

The only thing in the article that resonated with me was the amount of money paid to failed coaching hires. We need to have some kind of lemon law in these contracts that go beyond a three year period. Basically, provide a formula that allows for dismissal in the event of terrible team performance over a two year period, that reduces the payouts dramatically if a coach is dismissed. In the case of Flood, if your team is issued an NCAA violation, you would be dismissed with no further payment after the current season, unless the season already ended.

The rest of the article was BS. We entered the Big 10, so we had to build new training facilities, especially since the last new facility, the Hale Center, opened in 86. Basketball didn't have a practice court, and wrestling was in the Barn. As far as I'm concerned, most of the debt was used for "catch up" funding, and we had no choice but to fund these programs and pay for successful coaches. We were given one of three golden tickets, and we had to invest to maximize the opportunity.

Also, I have done some academic recruiting for Rutgers, and I can tell you that prospective students and parents mentioned the athletic programs all of the time. You don't have to be Ohio State, but you are expected to go to the NCAA tournament at least once in a while and have some winning seasons in football, I'm jealous because I wish I could do recruiting now, with basketball and football moving in the right direction. As we become successful, alumni giving and other revenue will increase, along with higher payments from the conference.

That article won't age well in five years. I will add it to the pile of "The Big 10 should have chosen UConn over Rutgers" articles from other brilliant media prognosticators from a few years ago.

Scarlet Jerry

 

[MADHAT1]

Why are you guys responding seriously to a troll? All it does is encourage him. He doesn’t care about facts or logic or reality or taxes or NJ. He just wants to stir shit up.

I'll respond to you and agree, the time of the troll should end.

Looks like a refugee from the defunct NJOline Rutgers forums found this site and bringing in that troll forum's material here.
Since the beginning of RU FB's rise to prominence trolls that were found on that forum had cherry picked financial information to try and make RU FB not worth investing in.
The people against college sports try every-way they can to make college sports look bad, but in the end college sports can help the school's image and bring pride to the residents of the state a successful college sports program is in.

Trolls understand that and look for ways to suck the enjoyment of the college sports experience from those finding enjoyment rooting for their school.
This thread has a prime example of that type of miserable troll posting in it

 

[RUTGERS95]

Ill say it again; Dolts

 

[RUTGERS95]

The only thing in the article that resonated with me was the amount of money paid to failed coaching hires. We need to have some kind of lemon law in these contracts that go beyond a three year period. Basically, provide a formula that allows for dismissal in the event of terrible team performance over a two year period, that reduces the payouts dramatically if a coach is dismissed. In the case of Flood, if your team is issued an NCAA violation, you would be dismissed with no further payment after the current season, unless the season already ended.

The rest of the article was BS. We entered the Big 10, so we had to build new training facilities, especially since the last new facility, the Hale Center, opened in 86. Basketball didn't have a practice court, and wrestling was in the Barn. As far as I'm concerned, most of the debt was used for "catch up" funding, and we had no choice but to fund these programs and pay for successful coaches. We were given one of three golden tickets, and we had to invest to maximize the opportunity.

Also, I have done some academic recruiting for Rutgers, and I can tell you that prospective students and parents mentioned the athletic programs all of the time. You don't have to be Ohio State, but you are expected to go to the NCAA tournament at least once in a while and have some winning seasons in football, I'm jealous because I wish I could do recruiting now, with basketball and football moving in the right direction. As we become successful, alumni giving and other revenue will increase, along with higher payments from the conference.

That article won't age well in five years. I will add it to the pile of "The Big 10 should have chosen UConn over Rutgers" articles from other brilliant media prognosticators from a few years ago.

Scarlet Jerry

Agree on lemon laws type thing

 

[sct1111]

Good grief. It’s not about how much money, the issue is that the State shouldn’t allow taxpayer money to go the the Athletic dept. when their finances are such a mess. It’s unethical. Fund the university, but forbid Rutgers to use that money to prop up the sports programs every year.

I'll personally give you the $1.50 you contributed to Rutgers athletics this year via taxes.

NJ tax payers hardly contribute anything to Rutgers and even less to athletics.

 

[Spursupalways]

I'll respond to you and agree, the time of the troll should end.

Looks like a refugee from the defunct NJOline Rutgers forums found this site and bringing in that troll forum's material here.
Since the beginning of RU FB's rise to prominence trolls that were found on that forum had cherry picked financial information to try and make RU FB not worth investing in.
The people against college sports try every-way they can to make college sports look bad, but in the end college sports can help the school's image and bring pride to the residents of the state a successful college sports program is in.

Trolls understand that and look for ways to suck the enjoyment of the college sports experience from those finding enjoyment rooting for their school.
This thread has a prime example of that type of miserable troll posting in it

I brought the truth to this conversation that was uncovered by excellent investigative journalism. Those journalists were driven by a passion to uncover unethical use of taxpayers money. Based on all the deflecting of those facts you’ve all done in this thread, the “regulars” on this board have not read the report, are willing to continue to put your heads in the sand while your university bleeds money, or both.

I have two degrees from Rutgers and it pisses me off that a few of you are willing to let the pursuit of athletic prowess place so much stress on university finances. This is especially egregious durning the pandemic which is causing cavernous financial shortfalls at the wealthiest Higher Ed institutions, let alone Rutgers. This type of mismanagement should not be tolerated, indeed, is not tolerated at most organizations. Sadly this kind of financial abuse is not always uncovered. It has been at Rutgers, and I applaud those journalists for shining a light on it. Here’s hoping those responsible are dealt with appropriately.

 

[WhichReligionIsRight]

Way to not answer my question!

Don't feed the troll. Probably a Fruit fan.

 

[mdh2003]

A quick perusal of AssUpAlways post history tells you need to know - he or she is a complete and utter moron, lol. They‘re fascinating in their stupidity. Being absolutely wrong about every single take or opinion is quite the feat. And the buffoon is wrong about this as well.

Maybe stick to finger puppets, kid…leave Football and Finance to the adults.

And the GS hate is pathological. This latest screed is just another stage of grief. Don’t worry, acceptance is just around the corner.

(sniff, sniff)…yeah, smells like a sarah.

 

[Spursupalways]

A quick perusal of AssUpAlways post history tells you need to know - he or she is a complete and utter moron, lol. They‘re fascinating in their stupidity. Being absolutely wrong about every single take or opinion is quite the feat. And the buffoon is wrong about this as well.

Maybe stick to finger puppets, kid…leave Football and Finance to the adults.

And the GS hate is pathological. This latest screed is just another stage of grief. Don’t worry, acceptance is just around the corner.

(sniff, sniff)…yeah, smells like a sarah.

Don’t you worry, I’ll be back the next time there is important news you should hear but don’t want to. I’ll keep my eye on this story and report back with any further developments. I’ll keep you up to speed on the trials of your Athletic Department. Some of you would be well served to listen to other perspectives. I’ll make sure you hear at least one, truthful POV.

 

[Knight177lb]

I brought the truth to this conversation that was uncovered by excellent investigative journalism. Those journalists were driven by a passion to uncover unethical use of taxpayers money. Based on all the deflecting of those facts you’ve all done in this thread, the “regulars” on this board have not read the report, are willing to continue to put your heads in the sand while your university bleeds money, or both.

I have two degrees from Rutgers and it pisses me off that a few of you are willing to let the pursuit of athletic prowess place so much stress on university finances. This is especially egregious durning the pandemic which is causing cavernous financial shortfalls at the wealthiest Higher Ed institutions, let alone Rutgers. This type of mismanagement should not be tolerated, indeed, is not tolerated at most organizations. Sadly this kind of financial abuse is not always uncovered. It has been at Rutgers, and I applaud those journalists for shining a light on it. Here’s hoping those responsible are dealt with appropriately.

It's pretty obvious you hate athletics and are lobbying for their end. Congrats on earning two degrees at Rutgers and I'm sorry that you haven't received any special treatment. To you, I know it doesn't make sense that athletes should get so much special attention and have so much money spent on them, but that's the way the world works.

You have a total lack of common sense. Of course academics are more important, but athletics are the front porch and how most people judge the quality of a university. It's just the way it is. There's a ton of universities doing what we're doing. It's not excellent investigative journalism if you don't provide any context.

If anything, Rutgers should be applauded for all they've done for athletics. We went from earning $2.5 million in The AAC to making more than $40 million. How many schools in the country have seen that kind of improvement in revenue? How many schools made the jump from a group of five conference to a power five conference. Only two others come to mind. Quite an accomplishment.

I'm sorry I'm not giving you the news you were hoping for, but Rutgers Athletics is a shinning beacon compared to how the rest of the state is run. If you want to get mad about corruption start with something that makes a difference, the pension system. By the way, New Jersey gives less support to Rutgers than any other state gives it's flagship university.

 

[Knight177lb]

^^^^^ The only long term solution to the problem. Must cut a bunch of the non-revenue generating sports.

We can't cut a bunch. The absolute most we can cut is two men's sports under NCAA rules. It's not going to solve the problem. A proper amount of funding from the state will make a real difference.

 

[mildone]

I have two degrees from Rutgers and it pisses me off that a few of you are willing to let the pursuit of athletic prowess place so much stress on university

Yeah. First, you have zero degrees from Rutgers. Second, the only problem with RU’s athletics spending is that they haven’t spent nearly enough on football and MBB.

You’re trolling in the wrong place. Maybe try the Sorryexcuse forum. They will be super receptive to your weak anti-RU sports trolling. You‘ll fit right in there.

 

[DJ Spanky]

Man, he hooked a bunch of you.

 

[mdh2003]

Hey, dumbass - don’t quote me. You’re not worth a real discussion.