I have NEVER seen our fan base so ready to abandon our program

[RUskoolie]

$50MM of the $115MM needed to pay for the basketball practice facility did not come from private funds. We are the only P5 school to have not funded a basketball practice facility solely from donations.

As for your comment directed @Wolv RU I would suggest the reason we hire "on the cheap" is because we have an extraordinarily low donor rate. And that has been going on for decades as evidenced in the stats for the last 10+ years in our USNWR ranking.

I'm not saying folks can't be disappointed in Coach Ash's performance. I am simply saying those calling for the University/Barchi to "step up" are barking up the wrong tree.

I fundamentally disagree. These schools started somewhere. You don't just become a good business by getting an investor to fund your proof of concept. You take a risk with your own money, do it correctly with your own money and once you're having success that attracts people.

For ex: No one is investing in your nephew's real estate company when he has never done anything before. He has to invest his own money, take his own risks and then once he has a track record people want to jump in and make money off him.

It's the same with athletics. OSU, UM, MSU, PSU, etc...they didn't get good because smart wealthy people decided to piss their money away on a bad football program just to make it good out of the goodness of their hearts. The school invested, got returns and that attracted people who wanted to be part of a winner.

Hell, a prime example is the RU wrestling program. The moment that program started getting proper funding from the school it was able to expand, grow, win and attract more money from donors. It wouldn't be where it is now if the school didn't decide to properly fund it.

 

[RU#1fan]

So Quickly?
I have been s ticket holder for 20 years.
This is worse than the Shea years.

 

[Jimpeg]

29 year season tickey holder. I think I can find something better to do with our 6k per year.

Ash should have never been hired. Career position coach with a 2 year title only of DC at tOSU (where talent outclasses coaching). Iowa boy who doesn't know anything about Jersey probably only says to recruits "when I was DC at tOSU, bla bla bla".

Say what you want about Schiano, but he's a Jersey guy. He's got family and coaching connections here. Kids remember his good teams, they see his players in the NFL. Parents remember his genuine concern for his players, especially EL. Bringing him back makes a huge splash with recruits and fans.

If the admission doesn't make some real commitment, I'll go down to one cheap ticket and never attend just to keep my points. They already pissed me off by increasing parking for empty lots.

I was unaware about increasing parking?...Please explain

 

[IBleedScarlet]

i have been gojng to Rutgers football and Rutgers basketball games as a season ticket holder for now over 40 years. I have 8 season tickets for football and 4 for basketball and my contribution to Rutgers is now close to five digits a year

So I’m a pretty damn good customer

More importantly... I’m an avid fan, and loyal son.

I grew up on Rutgers sports and I now take my sons to all the games. They are growing up on Rutgers.

And I have seen and sweated the past and know it all.

And I can tell you...that in 40 plus years...I have NEVER questioned why I am a Rutgers fan. Never. Not during Terry shea. Not during Craig Littlepage. Not having to wait 27 years for a bowl bid (I was at the garden state bowl). Now waiting almost 30 year for a NCAA bid

But I am now. We have blown all the benefits of the entrance to the big ten. The opportunity of all opportunities for this school athletic department.

And our school is at a threshold ...where thousands of fans are, at once, ready to give up on this program for good.

While I’m not there ...a lot of people who have been loyal fans for decades are there.

I know all the people around me in 105 for football. And almost none were there on Saturday. They don’t care ...and because the school doesn’t. And this is 105. Bigger donor territory and the loyal of the loyal.

I am telling you...if we don’t make a coaching change ...and make a change that we hire someone that will unite and rally this school fans for a long term build...then I bet we may be looking at a TEN thousand season ticket loss after this year. I am NOT kidding.

Criticize me for saying I’m over exaggerating ...but I don’t think so. I know the good fans that are staying away

It’s up to this school for once to make the real commitment to this program ...and it starts with not just firing the existing coach. Firing Chris ash, a nice man who is way over his head is only ONE step

This school must also hire a REAL coach and staff that will unite the fans of this program and have them on board for a build that isn’t going to be easy or short

Otherwise ...our fan base is going to exit and stay away like it never has before...and it will take a lot to get then all back.

It’s gojng to be easier to keep who is here by doing whatever needs to be done now in economic cost then to try to sell them on returning

Your move, Mr Hobbs, Mr Barchi and the Rutgers BOG

My RU story is different from many posters, but I seem to be ending up in the same place as many. I went to the Newark campus, graduating from NCAS in 1979. We didn't have much in the way of athletics (men's volleyball was the huge exception), but I was thrilled to be Rutgers fan. The first RU football game I attended was a road game at Harvard. We won by 3 points and I vaguely remember screaming on Mass Ave very late at night about the steamroller that was Rutgers football. :-)

I was hooked. I looked forward to checking the "East Indies" standings in the newspaper on Tuesdays. I loved the magical 1976 season (I know, 7 Ivies and non-majors that year, but oh, what fun!). I graduated, moved to the South for a couple of years, and bet everyone in the office that Rutgers would absolutely beat the spread against Alabama.

Job changes, new places to live, marriage and family...all the life stuff that happens, and I still was excited each fall. Even through the abysmal late 90's. The annual beatdown from Syracuse definitely left a mark.

I learned to adjust - listening to games I couldn't attend, smiling grimly at the "What's a Rutgers?" jokes, wondering if we could ever develop a sustainable offense or reasonable special teams. But, I remained a loyal fan, still excited.

I'll admit it - the Schiano years were enjoyable .... the last couple of them at any rate... I started seeing more folks outside the tri-state area sporting caps with the block R. I wanted more, of course....wanted to beat WVU, or to follow up a big win with a consistent effort the next game (you know, the Cincinnati's and New Hampshire's of the world). I wanted us to go to a real bowl. But, all in all, it was fun.

And, it seemed that we were running pretty clean programs. No major scandals, good APR numbers for our student athletes, etc.

The Flood years left me confused about who we were as an organization, and then angry as I learned about the coaching interference and undisciplined players. I felt that we were becoming a troubled program. It was the first time in 30+ years as a fan that I felt angry about the direction of our football program.

My overwhelming emotion now is one of discouragement. I'm damned proud to be a Rutgers alumnus, but I'm discouraged as a football fan. I've been a supporter of Rutgers since I graduated; my wife and I have sponsored an academic scholarship for years, and that will continue whatever the state of our athletic programs. But I have never been at such a low. I find myself not looking forward to the next game, and worried that the young men in the program are not in capable hands. Yuck.

 

[loki_dog]

I was unaware about increasing parking?...Please explain

Green and Yellow increased to $60 per game.

 

[RU#1fan]

Green and Yellow increased to $60 per game.

Another reason to walk away from this Mickey Mouse Program.

 

[jonS]

Scarlet Shack,
I , like you , have had it with the state of the football program. I am 67 years old ( Rutgers College , '73) and literally grew up attending Rutgers games with my dad , who , although an NYU grad , lived and died for dear old Rutgers. Some of my fondest memories are my dad and I attending games and listening together to WCTC broadcast the Rutgers games. I suffered from the same optimism many of us had at the start of the season . I live in the Boston area so I dropped Comcast and signed up Direct TV as soon as I learned that Comcast was dropping the bIg Ten network in my area. In addition to donating substantially to Rutgers, I try to make 2 or 3 games a season and had tickets for the Indiana game but decided to not go and avoid the time and expense of driving down from Boston and staying at a local hotel. I figured , why spend $500-600 dollars to watch a horrible team be 30 points down at half time? I admit --there are things I do like about Ash. He has identified the facilities and infrastructure needed for Rutgers to compete in the Big Ten and has provided needed leadership in addressing off-field problems , notably the credit card matter. . But he's not the guy to bring Rutgers to the promised land. The hard cold facts are that his players aren't developing enough to compete at the highest levels and his recruiting is not bringing in players that will help Rutgers compete and win. It is totally unacceptable for Rutgers to lose badly to Buffalo, Kansas, and Illinois in Ash's 3rd year of coaching. These three teams are noteworthy for being some of the worst football programs over the past 10-15 years. Rutgers needs to bring in a former head coach who can bring immediate credibility to the program and convince skeptical top recruits to take a chance on Rutgers. Schiano--maybe? but I doubt he'd want to return.

 

[Scarlet Shack]

Believe me...this is truly sickening.

More to come

 

[RUnTeX]

Believe me...this is truly sickening.

More to come

Hmmmm

 

[RUChoppin]

I honestly have no interest in watching the Maryland game this weekend. I'm going to DVR it, but I may not even end up watching the recording. I haven't watched the recording of any home game I've gone to this year, either, which I usually do during the week before the next game.

I'm struggling to get interested in attending the Northwestern game, and may not.

I'll go to Michigan because I have friends who come in every year for either Michigan or OSU, but I'm going to focus a lot more on the tailgate this year.

At this point I'm likely to list my PA St tickets on StubHub to try to recoup something of my season ticket costs for the year.

I haven't really watched many of the coaching interviews this year, where I've always watched every one in years past. I find myself not as interested in reading articles about the team, either.

This really is the least amount of interest or care I've had in the team in a long time.

***

I was a cautious Ash supporter in the beginning. I had big reservations about Mehringer and Niemann, and that Ash was hiring a ton of neophytes without any real experience in the positions they were being hired for. But he talked a good game, and I felt like he was going to get things back on track after Flood.

The writing was on the wall by the end of the first season, and it was clear to me that we'd be looking for a new coach for 2020. I felt there was a very, very small window to "get it right" out of the gate, and Ash missed it entirely - and that it probably scuttled his chances of ever really succeeding here. But still, I was hopeful that maybe it was just a multi-year setback rather than a nail in the coffin.

After the first six games of this year, I've lost all hope that this staff can turn it around. While the offense looks like it just might figure some things out by next year, the defense looks completely lost - and the recruiting hasn't shown any bounce, and what was there will likely fade after this dumpster fire season.

I've pretty much turned my attention to basketball - looking for hints of the future in what will likely be a 13-15 win season.

 

[rutgersal]

I do not understand this sentiment.

Marco Battaglia Sports practice complex ($8.5MM), Basketball practice facility ($115MM), Fred Hill baseball and softball complex ($3.3MM), Gary and Barbara Rodkin Center for Academic Success (new home for men's and women's soccer and lacrosse).

So, it appears Barchi has approved about $150MM worth of athletic construction projects, correct?

These were mostly donor funded. He will approve anything as long as people pony up.

 

[BoogieKnight]

I admit --there are things I do like about Ash. He has identified the facilities and infrastructure needed for Rutgers to compete in the Big Ten and has provided needed leadership in addressing off-field problems, notably the credit card matter. But he's not the guy to bring Rutgers to the promised land.

I agree but when you stop and think about it, Hobbs really just hired a football consultant to be our head coach. I know you need a HC that the donors can get behind to privately fund this infrastructure and Ash accomplished that but now things are heading in the other direction quickly. I'm sure most head coaches can recommend that we need a bigger locker room and an inside practice facility that isn't an inflatable bubble.

 

[RutgHoops]

These were mostly donor funded. He will approve anything as long as people pony up.

No matter how many times folks repeat this it simply is not true.

The facts are, Rutgers went out to bond for $26MM to pay for a portion of the basketball practice complex and Rutgers received tax credits from the State for another $25MM. As someone in real estate development I can definitively state that architects, general contractors, etc do not take tax credits as a form of payment. So Rutgers will have to outlay that $25MM initially and will recover it from the State over a period of time (normally 5-10 years). So, the facts say Rutgers had to layout about $51MM of the $115MM cost because these projects WERE NOT mostly donor funded.

 

[RutgHoops]

...
It's the same with athletics. OSU, UM, MSU, PSU, etc...they didn't get good because smart wealthy people decided to piss their money away on a bad football program just to make it good out of the goodness of their hearts. The school invested, got returns and that attracted people who wanted to be part of a winner.

OSU, PSU, Michigan, etc are good because the alums and fans who live in those states feel a bond to their state schools and donate. Rutgers has been a University since 1766. USNWR has donations to the University as one of its ranking criteria. For 30 years Rutgers has trailed just about every State University in this metric.

Alums do not feel enough of a connection to Rutgers to donate and state residents who did not go to Rutgers feel zero connection to the school. There are many residents of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Alabama etc who did not attend University but still donate. That does not happen in New Jersey.

As I wrote earlier be as mad as you want about Coach Ash and his performance. That is fair. But we went to 9 bowl games in 11 years and have not seen a meaningful uptick in donations. A part of the blame, in my opinion, lies with a donor base that simply does not come close to competing with the rest of league.

 

[rutgersal]

No matter how many times folks repeat this it simply is not true.

The facts are, Rutgers went out to bond for $26MM to pay for a portion of the basketball practice complex and Rutgers received tax credits from the State for another $25MM. As someone in real estate development I can definitively state that architects, general contractors, etc do not take tax credits as a form of payment. So Rutgers will have to outlay that $25MM initially and will recover it from the State over a period of time (normally 5-10 years). So, the facts say Rutgers had to layout about $51MM of the $115MM cost because these projects WERE NOT mostly donor funded.

115M-51M=64M=Mostly donor funded.

 

[BoogieKnight]

As I wrote earlier be as mad as you want about Coach Ash and his performance. That is fair. But we went to 9 bowl games in 11 years and have not seen a meaningful uptick in donations. A part of the blame, in my opinion, lies with a donor base that simply does not come close to competing with the rest of league.

This is fair. But there are lots and lots of other schools who are able to identify a solid coaching staff who proverbially does "more with less" and we can NEVER seem to land one of these coaches in football. Perhaps we finally have with Pikiell and that is great news for basketball.

When you hire some consulting firm to find you a narrow list of head coaching candidates and then hire one of those candidates after an interview and wrap up your search within 5 days, the odds of you finding this type of coach are slim to none. This cannot be disputed and this has nothing to do with the donor base.

 

[RU76]

Ash must interview well.

Been going to games since I was 6. 69 now. Live in Florida and still have season tix. Costs me $1,000 or more for every game I fly up for. Northwestern could be my last one.

 

[RutgHoops]

115M-51M=64M=Mostly donor funded.

You wrote Dr. Barchi would "approve anything as long as people pony up." If you believe having to go into debt for $51MM of $115MM project is people ponying up then we have different definitions of "ponying up". As an aside we are the ONLY P5 school that did not fund a project like this with 100% donor funds. The only one.

 

[hern4144]

Been around for over 50 years. The ebb and flow of the athletic programs pretty much have dictated a definite low bar expectation in RU.
I think we are like a person struggling in poor health that has some rare high notes followed by a general malaise most of the time. Eventually, the patient just gets tired of it and drifts away.
We all finally got what we wanted by getting into a real conference. What we didn't realize was how tough it was really going to be.

No! Even a complete dolt knew that joining the B1G was going to require a massive, full time commitment at all levels.

 

[hern4144]

...
It's the same with athletics. OSU, UM, MSU, PSU, etc...they didn't get good because smart wealthy people decided to piss their money away on a bad football program just to make it good out of the goodness of their hearts. The school invested, got returns and that attracted people who wanted to be part of a winner.

OSU, PSU, Michigan, etc are good because the alums and fans who live in those states feel a bond to their state schools and donate. Rutgers has been a University since 1766. USNWR has donations to the University as one of its ranking criteria. For 30 years Rutgers has trailed just about every State University in this metric.

Alums do not feel enough of a connection to Rutgers to donate and state residents who did not go to Rutgers feel zero connection to the school. There are many residents of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Alabama etc who did not attend University but still donate. That does not happen in New Jersey.

As I wrote earlier be as mad as you want about Coach Ash and his performance. That is fair. But we went to 9 bowl games in 11 years and have not seen a meaningful uptick in donations. A part of the blame, in my opinion, lies with a donor base that simply does not come close to competing with the rest of league.

Because the major sports have been dreadful for all but a brief period of time for football for the majority of Rutgers alums. Had Schiano stayed, he likely recruits at a top 25 level consistently with the backdrop of the B1G. He didn’t and the fan base is rightfully skeptical that Rutgers will ever turn it around

 

[RUskoolie]

As I wrote earlier be as mad as you want about Coach Ash and his performance. That is fair. But we went to 9 bowl games in 11 years and have not seen a meaningful uptick in donations. A part of the blame, in my opinion, lies with a donor base that simply does not come close to competing with the rest of league.

Do you have the data on that? Would be interested to see it if true.

 

[rutgersguy1]

You wrote Dr. Barchi would "approve anything as long as people pony up." If you believe having to go into debt for $51MM of $115MM project is people ponying up then we have different definitions of "ponying up". As an aside we are the ONLY P5 school that did not fund a project like this with 100% donor funds. The only one.

Are you sure about that? I think at least some of these large projects are funded partially by athletic revenue bond issues. At least that's what I've read in the past for other schools...Minnesota is one that comes to mind with that whole sports complex or whatever they were doing. They got some big corporate donations as well. I think that 26M for us is funded by event parking IIRC.

 

[RutgHoops]

Do you have the data on that? Would be interested to see it if true.

Rutgers is #34 in the below link. Click on the link and you can see year over year donations (listed as "Contributions"). When you compare to other Big Ten schools we are $10's of millions per year behind.

I do not want to be mistaken as saying Rutgers fans aren't loyal or are "bad". I am not saying that at all. I am simply trying to illustrate the enormous gap we have between us and our peer schools on a year over year basis. And how that gap contributes to the constraints our AD faces.

Our donations and AD budget are on par with schools like Washington State and Oregon State. Do you feel our results over the past decade are significantly worse than those two schools?

http://sports.usatoday.com/ncaa/finances/

 

[bac2therac]

OSU, PSU, Michigan, etc are good because the alums and fans who live in those states feel a bond to their state schools and donate. Rutgers has been a University since 1766. USNWR has donations to the University as one of its ranking criteria. For 30 years Rutgers has trailed just about every State University in this metric.

Alums do not feel enough of a connection to Rutgers to donate and state residents who did not go to Rutgers feel zero connection to the school. There are many residents of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Alabama etc who did not attend University but still donate. That does not happen in New Jersey.

As I wrote earlier be as mad as you want about Coach Ash and his performance. That is fair. But we went to 9 bowl games in 11 years and have not seen a meaningful uptick in donations. A part of the blame, in my opinion, lies with a donor base that simply does not come close to competing with the rest of league.

then we do not belong in the Big 10..agree or disagree...if we do not have the loyal donor fanbase nor the administraton that cares..and we all have seen evidence of this, then why are we competing at this level

 

[RUskoolie]

Rutgers is #34 in the below link. Click on the link and you can see year over year donations (listed as "Contributions"). When you compare to other Big Ten schools we are $10's of millions per year behind.

I do not want to be mistaken as saying Rutgers fans aren't loyal or are "bad". I am not saying that at all. I am simply trying to illustrate the enormous gap we have between us and our peer schools on a year over year basis. And how that gap contributes to the constraints our AD faces.

Our donations and AD budget are on par with schools like Washington State and Oregon State. Do you feel our results over the past decade are significantly worse than those two schools?

http://sports.usatoday.com/ncaa/finances/

So when Schiano started winning, our contributions doubled...then when he left and we hired on the cheap contributions flat lined (impressive considering how the bottom was falling out). I don't buy this argument you're trying to make. Money follows success, always has always will. I have had plenty of RU alums tell me the day RU hires a real coach that's when they will donate. People aren't stupid and aren't going to piss into the wind with their money if the school demonstrates they're half assing it.

 

[BoogieKnight]

OSU, PSU, Michigan, etc are good because the alums and fans who live in those states feel a bond to their state schools and donate. Rutgers has been a University since 1766. USNWR has donations to the University as one of its ranking criteria. For 30 years Rutgers has trailed just about every State University in this metric.

Alums do not feel enough of a connection to Rutgers to donate and state residents who did not go to Rutgers feel zero connection to the school. There are many residents of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Alabama etc who did not attend University but still donate. That does not happen in New Jersey.

As I wrote earlier be as mad as you want about Coach Ash and his performance. That is fair. But we went to 9 bowl games in 11 years and have not seen a meaningful uptick in donations. A part of the blame, in my opinion, lies with a donor base that simply does not come close to competing with the rest of league.

then we do not belong in the Big 10..agree or disagree...if we do not have the loyal donor fanbase nor the administraton that cares..and we all have seen evidence of this, then why are we competing at this level

And that’s what many people ask. And I used to get offended when people would say we don’t belong. Now I agree 100%. Don’t give me the nonsense about size of university or academic mission. At the end of the day, it’s an athletic conference. If it were about academics they’d have added Stevens Institute and John’s Hopkins (for all sports).

 

[bac2therac]

So when Schiano started winning, our contributions doubled...then when he left and we hired on the cheap contributions flat lined (impressive considering how the bottom was falling out). I don't buy this argument you're trying to make. Money follows success, always has always will. I have had plenty of RU alums tell me the day RU hires a real coach that's when they will donate. People aren't stupid and aren't going to piss into the wind with their money if the school demonstrates they're half assing it.

Bingo....McCormick cared and spent on athletics despite the Mulcahy firing....Barchi clearly does not care...yet we still have posters saying he isnt the problem...until he is gone, this schools athletics will suffer greatly and fans/donors are tired of this charade

 

[BlockR]

Bingo....McCormick cared and spent on athletics despite the Mulcahy firing....Barchi clearly does not care...yet we still have posters saying he isnt the problem...until he is gone, this schools athletics will suffer greatly and fans/donors are tired of this charade

Barchi doesnt care and only acts when hes forced to.
Chris Christie called him out in the media. Barchi was forced to act and did something athletics related because he feared Christie would end his gravey train job.
Maybe when the heat goes full blast after the November massive blowout games,and the media has RU on weekly laugh mode,then Barchi will do something.

"If Rutgers is in the Big Ten and they want to be competitive in the Big Ten, those are the things they're going to have to do,'' Christie said Monday night during his Ask The Governor radio program, when asked about Rutgers women's basketball coach C. Vivian Stringer's recent call to state lawmakers to give support to a $50 million on a new basketball arena.

Nearly four weeks after state Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Union) sent a letter to Rutgers President Robert Barchi with the headline, "We're in the Big Ten. We should act like it,'' Christie delivered a similar message during his interview with New Jersey 101.5 FM host Eric Scott.

"If we want to be serious players in college athletics, then we need to invest in them,'' Christie said. "If we don't, then we don't. Then we should become schools that aren't in the Big Ten. You're in the Big Ten and that decision was made by Rutgers, then you better be ready to compete with Michigan and Ohio State and Wisconsin and all of those other schools in the Big Ten that compete every day.''

 

[BlockR]

But..dont forget this connection..

The house-cleaning continued when news of football coach Kyle Flood's firing broke minutes later.

“The replacement of a football coach raises special challenges for us so that made it appropriate, I think, to start fresh, wipe the slate clean,” Barchi said, “and take this opportunity to move Rutgers forward and take it to where we know it can go.”

Rutgers quickly acted to replace Hermann with Patrick Hobbs, the Dean Emeritus of Seton Hall Law School and the ombudsmen on Republican presidential candidate Gov. Chris Christie’s staff.

 

[RutgHoops]

So when Schiano started winning, our contributions doubled...then when he left and we hired on the cheap contributions flat lined (impressive considering how the bottom was falling out). I don't buy this argument you're trying to make. Money follows success, always has always will. I have had plenty of RU alums tell me the day RU hires a real coach that's when they will donate. People aren't stupid and aren't going to piss into the wind with their money if the school demonstrates they're half assing it.

I guess we look at it thru different lenses and that's ok.

You view it as when Schiano started winning, we went from $4.5MM to $9MM in donations. Your view is we "doubled" because we won. My view is even with the winning Schiano did all that happened is we went from trailing OSU, PSU, Michigan, etc by $30MM/year to trailing them by $25MM/year and our AD is still similarly hamstrung by a lack of resources.

To me it is akin to the Tampa Rays adding $5MM or $10MM in payroll and thinking they now compete with the Yankees or Red Sox. The Rays (like Rutgers) can have a good year and even a good stretch of years but when you give up that much "payroll" you really can't compete for long.

Do you think Rutgers has the ability to go from $9MM/year in donations to $18MM/year in donations which is where we need to go to realistically compete?

 

[bac2therac]

I guess we look at it thru different lenses and that's ok.

You view it as when Schiano started winning, we went from $4.5MM to $9MM in donations. Your view is we "doubled" because we won. My view is even with the winning Schiano did all that happened is we went from trailing OSU, PSU, Michigan, etc by $30MM/year to trailing them by $25MM/year and our AD is still similarly hamstrung by a lack of resources.

To me it is akin to the Tampa Rays adding $5MM or $10MM in payroll and thinking they now compete with the Yankees or Red Sox. The Rays (like Rutgers) can have a good year and even a good stretch of years but when you give up that much "payroll" you really can't compete for long.

Do you think Rutgers has the ability to go from $9MM/year in donations to $18MM/year in donations which is where we need to go to realistically compete?

we were not in the Big 10 then so you need to compare to Big East donation levels

 

[NewJerseyHawk]

I guess we look at it thru different lenses and that's ok.

You view it as when Schiano started winning, we went from $4.5MM to $9MM in donations. Your view is we "doubled" because we won. My view is even with the winning Schiano did all that happened is we went from trailing OSU, PSU, Michigan, etc by $30MM/year to trailing them by $25MM/year and our AD is still similarly hamstrung by a lack of resources.

To me it is akin to the Tampa Rays adding $5MM or $10MM in payroll and thinking they now compete with the Yankees or Red Sox. The Rays (like Rutgers) can have a good year and even a good stretch of years but when you give up that much "payroll" you really can't compete for long.

Do you think Rutgers has the ability to go from $9MM/year in donations to $18MM/year in donations which is where we need to go to realistically compete?

Hoops....do you think revenue has no impact on donations.

For decades, each of the B1G members are double or triple our income. That's double or triple the season ticket holders in all sports.

If Camp Randall holds 65K and 44K of those are season ticket holders....if Kohl center holds 16K for hoops at Wisconsin and 12 to 13K are season ticket holders, you have thousands more to draw donations from.....vs 15K to 20K for RU football and 3 to 4K for hoops at RU??

I would argue that the B1G has very wealthy people associated with their schools, probably more than any other league. I would not say Northern or Midwestern money goes further than SEC or Texas A&M oil money but it is easier to collect donations when you are set up to do so.

I don't know who collects donations for Michigan or Ohio State but my guess is they have 8 Pat Hobbs type of people for every 1 at RU.

 

[RUChoppin]

As an aside we are the ONLY P5 school that did not fund a project like this with 100% donor funds. The only one.

"With a projected $166 million bill, the University of Minnesota’s Athletes Village will be funded in part by the largest fundraising campaign its athletics department has ever undertaken.

The department has raised $105 million to date, with $16 million raised in the past month alone. The remaining $61 million will be financed through debt, a practice the University uses on certain high-dollar capital projects.

The $104.5 million renovation of Pioneer Hall, for example, uses similar financing but does not utilize donations."

We are far from the "ONLY P5 school" that's not funding infrastructure with 100% donor funds.

 

[RutgHoops]

"With a projected $166 million bill, the University of Minnesota’s Athletes Village will be funded in part by the largest fundraising campaign its athletics department has ever undertaken.

The department has raised $105 million to date, with $16 million raised in the past month alone. The remaining $61 million will be financed through debt, a practice the University uses on certain high-dollar capital projects.

The $104.5 million renovation of Pioneer Hall, for example, uses similar financing but does not utilize donations."

We are far from the "ONLY P5 school" that's not funding infrastructure with 100% donor funds.

I stand corrected. However you did leave out one important fact: "the school approved up to $89 million in borrowing in 2016 — the athletics department plans to pay for privately."

But your point is correct. I guess it stands to reason for Minnesota who along with Rutgers and Maryland are the only schools with annual donations under $21.7MM/year (Minnesota receives about $14MM/year in donations) that they also cannot afford to build athletic facilities privately.

 

[RUskoolie]

I guess we look at it thru different lenses and that's ok.

You view it as when Schiano started winning, we went from $4.5MM to $9MM in donations. Your view is we "doubled" because we won. My view is even with the winning Schiano did all that happened is we went from trailing OSU, PSU, Michigan, etc by $30MM/year to trailing them by $25MM/year and our AD is still similarly hamstrung by a lack of resources.

To me it is akin to the Tampa Rays adding $5MM or $10MM in payroll and thinking they now compete with the Yankees or Red Sox. The Rays (like Rutgers) can have a good year and even a good stretch of years but when you give up that much "payroll" you really can't compete for long.

Do you think Rutgers has the ability to go from $9MM/year in donations to $18MM/year in donations which is where we need to go to realistically compete?

You can't compare us to teams in another conference with another setup. Compare peers to peers. How did we compare to LVille, Cuse, Pitt, etc.

I get what you're saying and I don't necessarily disagree but I think there would be a much different result if the school went out and fired Ash, spent $4m on a HC and staff and said we are not going to tolerate losing. That would show people how serious we are, rather than waiting until you HAVE to make a move, give some canned PC line and then going the cheap route.

 

[RUOtBOtOR]

I know this may be hard for some of the older people to hear but I think it’s going to take a generation for Rutgers to fully blossom into a B1G program.

Everyone 40+ (alumni, fans, random people on the street) only know of Rutgers as a pretty huge disaster athletically with a brief 5-8 year “good” period when we had Schiano.

It’s going to take a generation of the school being in the B1G for the narrative to change. People now 10 and under have really only ever know Rutgers in the B1G. I think it will take that time to cycle in the new generation who expect and are used to big time to go to school here, graduate, and begin donating.

That’s why this next coach hire is so important. They have a chance to capture that first generation who only knows Rutgers as a B1G school.

 

[RutgHoops]

Hoops....do you think revenue has no impact on donations.

For decades, each of the B1G members are double or triple our income. That's double or triple the season ticket holders in all sports.

If Camp Randall holds 65K and 44K of those are season ticket holders....if Kohl center holds 16K for hoops at Wisconsin and 12 to 13K are season ticket holders, you have thousands more to draw donations from.....vs 15K to 20K for RU football and 3 to 4K for hoops at RU??

I would argue that the B1G has very wealthy people associated with their schools, probably more than any other league. I would not say Northern or Midwestern money goes further than SEC or Texas A&M oil money but it is easier to collect donations when you are set up to do so.

I don't know who collects donations for Michigan or Ohio State but my guess is they have 8 Pat Hobbs type of people for every 1 at RU.

Hawk...sure I think that's fair.

We know the television revenue gap is going to close. But even after 2021 here is what I see when I look at a school like Wisconsin v. Rutgers: There is a $15MM/year gap in ticket revenue and another $15MM/year gap in donations. I don't care which one we want to look at or how folks want to view it, but I am not sure how you compete unless you close one of those two. Do you?

 

[RUChoppin]

I stand corrected. However you did leave out one important fact: "the school approved up to $89 million in borrowing in 2016 — the athletics department plans to pay for privately."

But your point is correct. I guess it stands to reason for Minnesota who along with Rutgers and Maryland are the only schools with annual donations under $21.7MM/year (Minnesota receives about $14MM/year in donations) that they also cannot afford to build athletic facilities privately.

Tennessee's Neyland Stadium renovation will also take on debt, but numbers aren't released yet.

Louisville's stadium expansion is being funded entirely by $55M in bonds.

Big capital projects like this require tens of millions in a short time - and most programs (even P5 programs) can't mobilize that sort of money from donations in the time between announcement and completion. Some can absorb it into their budget, but that's usually by increasing their subsidy - as most schools are running with a $9M+/year subsidy as it is.

 

[RutgHoops]

Bingo....McCormick cared and spent on athletics despite the Mulcahy firing....Barchi clearly does not care...yet we still have posters saying he isnt the problem...until he is gone, this schools athletics will suffer greatly and fans/donors are tired of this charade

Rutgers AD Spending '05-'12 (McCormick)

'05: $38MM
'06: $42MM
'07: $45MM
'08: $51MM
'09: $58MM
'10: $64MM
'11: $60MM
'12: $64MM

Rutgers AD Spending '13-'17 (Barchi)

'13: $79MM
'14: $77MM
'15: $71MM
'16: $84MM
'17: $99MM

 

[RutgHoops]

Tennessee's Neyland Stadium renovation will also take on debt, but numbers aren't released yet.

Louisville's stadium expansion is being funded entirely by $55M in bonds.

Big capital projects like this require tens of millions in a short time - and most programs (even P5 programs) can't mobilize that sort of money from donations in the time between announcement and completion. Some can absorb it into their budget, but that's usually by increasing their subsidy - as most schools are running with a $9M+/year subsidy as it is.

This is what I found looking quickly. Do you have other information/sources?

"Louisville has spent over $39 million on the expansion so far, with future payments in the works for the $63 million project, Klein said. The construction has been funded through private donations."

https://www.courier-journal.com/sto...nsion-louisville-nears-completion/1149372002/

"The estimated total project budget, in future dollars, stands at $340 million. During his presentation to the board Thursday, Currie outlined a five-source funding model for Phase I that does not require any state dollars or subsidies. The updated plan calls for more work to be completed sooner, while costs are lower; this adjustment also enables the project to benefit from the current low-interest-rate environment."

https://utsports.com/news/2017/11/3...master-plan-proposal-for-neyland-stadium.aspx