https://www.northjersey.com/in-depth/news/watchdog/2021/09/04/rutgers-at...
This was the year Rutgers University athletics expected to be on firm financial ground. Instead, the move to the Big Ten means anything but that
This report is damning for Rutgers leadership. How will the BIG Ten feel in 5 years when they are still loaning money to Rutgers.
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I'm getting a paywall on both mobile and desktop. I found the story on r/cfb
This New Jersey Herald link is working for me.
Haven't finished reading the article yet, but so far I'm learning that Adam Sandler's character in Uncut Gems was based on the Rutgers Athletic Department.
Thanks for the assistance. Not sure why it's letting me read it without the paywall.
The university has stepped in, loaning athletics $84 million over the last six years to cover expenses — violating its own policy, which it changed after inquiries from The 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
Much about athletics is cloaked in secrecy — Rutgers couldn't supply its contract with the Big Ten, eventually admitting it doesn't have a copy.
Wow. That's pretty scary.
I wonder how Maryland is doing financially.
They had some debts, too, and continue to double down.
Wait, they lost the contract? Like nobody at any point moved the pdf into a folder?? At some point you reach out to the B1G and ask if they have a copy right?? Hell, blame it on the new guy but how can you not have a copy???
They probably did ask the Big Ten, who promptly replied, "Who are you, again?"
Umm we're gonna need a release signed by Ryan Day to release any information about this account
The B1G should cross out the original amount and change it to $1...
Based on the comments they got from Maryland, it sounds like the BIG didn't allow them (either Rutgers or UMd) to keep a copy of the contact when it was signed. Combined with turnover of people who signed it (and one assumes, read it) from the top of Rutgers, sounds like Rutgers might not have any idea what being in the BIG involves.
It makes one wonder if any of the BIG schools have copies or know what the fuck is going on. It also makes me slightly less jealous (or at least slightly more skeptical) about the actual gap in revenue.
How much of uneven revenue split is going directly to OSU, Penn St, and Michigan?
PSU isn't getting anything extra, the bug ten have treated them like a red haired strip child subs they've joined.
" red haired strip child subs they've joined."
I had a stroke.
If you have lived any meaningful amount of time in New Jersey as an adult, your eyes are even partly open and you are not part of "the blob" (i.e., the receivers of the corrupt moneybag man), none of this comes as any surprise to you. This is just par for the course in New Jersey state government and much of local government as well. For a great read, check out The Jersey Sting: A True Story of Crooked Pols, Money-Laundering Rabbis, Black Market Kidneys, and the Informant Who Brought It All Down.
https://www.amazon.com/Jersey-Sting-Crooked-Money-Laundering-Informant/d...
"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
Much about athletics is cloaked in secrecy — Rutgers couldn't supply its contract with the Big Ten, eventually admitting it doesn't have a copy."
I was gonna just chime in and say "Jersey... 🤷🏿♂️" but you said it more eloquently and provided sources.
Yikes.
On the bright side, they finally found something they're good at?
I assume the debt they owe to the mob off the books, so it's worse than reported right?
I saw this headline and thought to myself "what an over reaction! that's like making a $100k salary and buying a $250k house." Then I read the article... It's more like Rutgers makes $100k/year and has $250k in credit card debt.
Ooof
So apparently the strategy of betting on Rutgers football to increase athletic department revenue was a bad one.
$48M in loans is a small price to pay for the B1G to get a football patsy to help ensure 1 CFP team.
The B1G has gotten exactly what it wanted from Rutgers and UMd.
They were short on doormats in the Northeast.
Exactly.
The Schiano helicopter makes for a nice show though...especially since it's being paid for by someone else's credit card.
As a NJ taxpayer, that would be my credit card.
You and me both!
And Frosty's Dad-
If Rutgers falls into financial ruin, (which, lets be honest, they basically are) I wonder if there are any clauses in the contract that allows the Big Ten to kick them out and bring in someone else.
There probably are but why would they? Someone else will bail them out (most likely taxpayers directly and/or indirectly) and as I said above, the B1G got exactly what it wanted/needed.
Rutgers wouldn't know, they don't have a copy of their B1G charter
My first thought was How? They have all that Big10 money, like how could they get this far down? Corruption for sure
How was my thought as well. They have 150,000 students paying athletic fees. Even discounting any ticket, conference money, etc. That is a bigger chunk of change than many FCS, CAA teams might have for their whole athletic budget.
I'm asking myself the same question. They are part of one of the most highly paid sports conference and they still lose money??? FFS VT made 3M in profit and the ACC has one of the worst media contracts amongst the P5. Geezus.
it's those high property taxes in NJ
/s
They haven't gotten a full share yet, in fact they are only getting marginally more than they did in Big East.
And according to their contract, they are always going to get a half share.
Even if it didn't say that before, it sure will after the B1G sends them a "copy of the original."
Anyone else catch the blurb about Maryland's loans from the Big Ten? $113 Million! The debt service for these two Athletic Departments is unbelievable and very reckless.
So wait, Maryland currently owes the Big Ten $113m and Rutgers is currently holding more than $250m in debt?
How in the absolute hell is this happening? Last year, Rutgers had revenues of $103m and Maryland $108m. What in the absolute hell are they spending their money on to be able to rack up debt like that? Neither school has done a thing to renovate, expand, or refresh their stadiums in either football or basketball since they joined, and no other effort would really carry the kind of overhead needed to rack up that kind of debt. I'm seriously dumbfounded here.
Didn't the article say they were reporting loan proceeds as revenue to cover up their operating deficit? My goodness.
But even still, what on earth are they spending that money on? I mean unless you're saying they were pulling $20m-$30m per year in loans to cover expenses, how does that happen? And if that's the case, how on earth does the school not step in and force the department to start slashing the budget just to get their debt under control. Maryland has 23 sports split across Men's and Women's competition. Rutgers has 25. At a certain point, when your average debt is $5m-$10m per team in a dichotomy where only 3 or 4 actually pull in money, what the hell.
Would love to see their financial statements and see how expenses are reported. Something doesn't quite add up here.
Alum07, trust me on this one. Using "start slashing the budget" and anything related to New Jersey government (including quasi-governmental entities) in the same sentence is an oxymoron. A while back it was New Jersey, Illinois and Louisiana jockeying for position for the most corrupt state. Had improved a bit for a while there, but I guess we are back to normal now. Why I say I cannot wait to get out of The People's Republic of New Jersey after retirement.
Maryland actually turned cole field house into an indoor and precious "FOotBaLL OnlY" building recently. A huge upgrade.
At a huge overrun (of $55mil) past the original plan and budget.
It read like there were a couple of support buildings that were part of the recent expenditures. The article specifically mentioned that funding for items like that were previously paid for in advance via some sort of funding drive. Sounds like they were spending before their funding stream was fully in place.
Also, did you notice that they don't get full athletic shares from the B1G until 2021? Nine years. And we thought WE were screwed entering the Big East.
With the loans, they won't see full share for a number of years after
The article said they have done improvements to existing facilities and have built new basketball and gymnastics buildings.
Maryland has been building like crazy.
I'd love to see a similar article written about Maryland and their finances after joining the Big 10.
I suspect you'd see a LOT more public money being mixed into the athletic department through building new facilities. I believe you'd notice the athletic department absorbing buildings paid for by the taxpayers being "co-located" with athletic department facilities, particularly in the area of sports medicine, with a significant outlay of funds being made there.
They have a lot more donors (like Kevin Plank) looking to subsidize their donations with public funds, and better creative accounting, so they're probably in a lot better shape.
Meanwhile, half of Jersey is just now finding out Rutgers is in Jersey. (there's a history here. Back in the 80's, they put NJ on the helmets so people would know).
Makes sense why they all go out of state for college
Somewhere, James Gandolfini is laughing.
Never had the makings of a varsity athlete.
Not where I was going with that.
He was a major booster to the program, and had his own seat at the stadium. He also covered/cleaned a lot of the corruption from the AD cause it affected his status. It wasn't a surprise the school started getting into trouble when he died. There was a scandal with a marketing firm, and now this coming out. Not shocked at all.
Me: Rutgers is $265 million in debt.
Wife: wow
me: the reported loans as revenue
wife: I'm not an accountant, but what?
me: they don't even have a copy of their contract with the bug ten
Wife: wait they don't have a contract with the big ten, who are they with
me: they are apart of the big ten, they just don't have a copy of the paperwork
Wife: how is that possible, wait no I don't want to know, to much incompetence for.
Me: me yeah, but your missing the worst part, some one got paid a lot of money to be this incompetent, no one making 60k a year has a shot if getting $265 mil in debt.