The crowd at SHI Stadium during the second quarter as Rutgers plays host to Wagner on Saturday, September 10, 2022 in Piscataway, N.J.
As the Big Ten continues to expand and college athletics enters deeper into a new era, Rutgers is making more money than ever and spending even more to keep up with the competition.
The school’s athletic department set a record in total operating revenue and expenses during the 2022-23 academic year, a review of the 2023 Fiscal Year ledger Rutgers submitted to the NCAA reveals. NJ Advance Media obtained the report through an Open Public Records Act request.
Fiscal year 2023, which runs from July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023, covers the 2022-23 academic year.
The financial report shows Rutgers spent a record $153,523,767 in 2022-23, a roughly 10.9% bump from the $138.4M it spent during the previous academic year. The school’s athletics budget has increased in each of its first nine years as a member of the Big Ten, more than doubling since the inaugural 2014-15 season, when it was $70.6 million.
A big crowd on hand at SHI Stadium to watch Rutgers play Ohio State on Saturday, Oct. 2, 2021, in Piscataway, N.J. Andrew Mills | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Here are the major expenditures, with the year-over-year comparisons in parentheses:
— $34.4 million in coaching salaries (+12.4%)
— $25.7 million in administrative/ and support staff salaries (+14.8%)
— $21.8 million in scholarship aid (+14.5%)
— $13.3 million on overhead and administrative expenses (+20.7%)
— $11.4 million on travel (+16.2%)
— $11.2 million in athletics-facilities debt (-30.1%)
— $2.6 million in severance payments (+23.8%)
— $5.8 million on non-travel student-athlete meals (+11.4%)
The department set a record in total operating revenue: $125.5 million, a 12.7% increase from the previous year and nearly $55 million more than its total in 2015, its first fiscal year in the Big Ten.
The main revenue streams, with the year-over-year comparisons in parentheses:
— $44.1 million for Big Ten revenue media rights (+23.4%)
— $11.8 million in other Big Ten revenue (bowl game distributions, etc) (+12.5%)
— $14.8 million in ticket sales (+11.7%)
— $7.2 million in royalties, licensing, advertisement and sponsorships (-0.4%)
— $6.2 million in contributions (-14.5%)
— $4.7 million in NCAA distributions (+0.3%)
— $2.7 million in program, novelty, parking and concessions (+18.7%)
— $2.5 million in other operating revenue (+33.3%)
— $26.1 million in university subsidies (+8%)
Despite the record revenue, Rutgers athletics’ deficit for the year totals $54.2 million — a $1.3 million increase from a year ago. The department’s ledger shows only a $28.1 million shortfall because the debt was offset by $26.1 million — $6.2 million in subsidies from the university’s operating budget, $13.5 million in student fees and $6.4 million in direct state or government support.
The expenditures represent 3% of the university’s $5.4 billion budget, while the $26.1 million in subsidies account for 0.5% of the budget.
In an emailed statement to NJ Advance Media, University spokesperson Dory Devlin said that Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway — who has acknowledged on multiple occasions that “it is highly unlikely the athletics division of Rutgers-New Brunswick … will one day cover all of its expenses” — believes “that building storied men’s and women’s athletics programs is an important endeavor and is important to maintaining Rutgers prominence among the top 15 public research universities in the nation.”
“Athletics is the front door to a university for sports fans across the country and around the globe,” Devlin wrote. “Competitive athletics programs build pride in a university and help to establish lifelong bonds with current, future, and former students and their families. Certainly, maintaining successful programs in the face of the current sea changes within intercollegiate athletics is a challenge, but we will continue to commit ourselves to responsible investments in Scarlet Knights athletics.”
Documents obtained by NJ Advance Media show the Rutgers athletics program had $58.5 million in external debt and $167.5 million in internal debt as of April 18, 2022. The external loans stem from the $102 million expansion of Rutgers’ football stadium, while the internal loans came from the university’s bank. School officials said nearly 40% of that debt is due to internal loans for the RWJBarnabas Athletic Performance Center ($43 million) and the Gary and Barbara Rodkin Academic Success Center ($23.7 million).
The school’s internal financial forecasts predict that Rutgers athletics will continue to run a deficit through the end of this decade because of existing loans, facilities enhancement, increased coaching salaries and student-athlete compensation.
Rutgers officials are optimistic that the department’s financial fortunes will improve. Facility renovations will provide increased revenue opportunities through premium seating options, and a recent $1.2 billion media rights deal signed by the Big Ten could net the Scarlet Knights $75 million annually.
NCAA President Charlie Baker’s radical “Project D1″ proposal, which would permit schools to strike name, image and likeness (NIL) deals with athletes and offer them an unlimited amount of educationally related benefits, took a major step forward at last week’s NCAA Convention. There, the NCAA Board of Directors assigned the Division I Council to explore the proposal.
Holloway was asked about Baker’s proposal by NJ Advance Media during a press conference at Yankee Stadium before Rutgers’ participation in the Pinstripe Bowl last month. Projecting finances in a rapidly shifting collegiate athletics world is probably folly, he said.
“Answering any question about the state of college athletics — it depends on what day. I can tell you (something) today, but tomorrow is going to be something different,” Holloway said. “It is hard to imagine a more turbulent moment in the world of college athletics. … My hope is that we all end up in the right place at the end of the day.”
The following is a look at key line items for revenue earned and expenditures made by Rutgers athletics during the 2022-23 school year:
REVENUE
Direct institutional support
FY2023: $6,201,238
FY2022: $5,842,641
FY2021: $27,584,119
FY2020: $11,865,632
FY2019: $14,522,590
FY2018: $15,182,234
FY2017: $21,320,750
FY2016: $17,159,613
FY2015: $12,926,813
Direct State or Other Government Support
FY2023: $6,368,213
FY2022: $5,356,575
FY2021: $4,753,221
FY2020: $3,998,607
FY2019: $3,175,214
FY2018: $2,904,354
FY2017: $0
FY2016: $29,163
FY2015: $13,184
Student fees
FY2023: $13,540,176
FY2022: $12,835,080
FY2021: $10,545,834
FY2020: $12,654,098
FY2019: $12,161,591
FY2018: $11,894,203
FY2017: $11,766,728
FY2016: $11,421,897
FY2015: $10,863,906
Ticket sales
FY2023: $14,783,535
FY2022: $13,049,333
FY2021: $14,105
FY2020: $8,414,231
FY2019: $10,535,678
FY2018: $10,764,623
FY2017: $12,824,201
FY2016: $13,757,852
FY2015: $13,845,553
Contributions
FY2023: $6,185,257
FY2022: $7,230,919
FY2021: $6,159,587
FY2020: $2,888,715
FY2019: $5,578,315
FY2018: $7,161,713
FY2017: $7,128,280
FY2016: $7,980,761
FY2015: $8,860,303
Note: The NCAA defines contributions as “amounts received from individuals, corporations, associations, foundations, clubs or other organizations designated for the operations of the athletics program.’’ This total doesn’t include pledges until funds are provided to athletics for use or money used in future reporting years.
Apparel deal
FY2023: $1,800,000
FY2022: $1,750,000
FY2021: $1,725,000
FY2020: $1,725,000
FY2019: $1,725,000
FY2018: $2,000,000
FY2017: $996,921
FY2016: $1,000,000
Note: In February 2017, Rutgers signed a six-year deal worth just north of $10 million in apparel and cash value with Adidas, which took over in 2017-18 as the official supplier of apparel, footwear and other accessories of the Scarlet Knights.
Big Ten distribution
FY2023: $55,920,998
FY2022: $44,113,285
FY2021: $27,633,573
FY2020: $29,734,597
FY2019: $26,948,590
FY2018: $25,222,071
FY2017: $16,106,487
FY2016: $9,846,856
FY2015: $9,436,031
Note: This is a combination of media rights and conference distributions of revenue for postseason participation in football, men’s basketball and other sports.
EXPENSES
Student-aid scholarships
FY2023: $21,895,047
FY2022: $18,715,322
FY2021: $17,376,340
FY2020: $15,282,500
FY2019: $15,560,764
FY2018: $16,824,971
FY2017: $14,006,618
FY2016: $12,898,975
FY2015: $11,314,062
Coaching salaries and bonuses
FY2023: $33,858,786
FY2022: $29,647,552
FY2021: $25,472,843
FY2020: $20,813,878
FY2019: $19,437,463
FY2018: $17,397,449
FY2017: $16,019,723
FY2016: $13,177,189
FY2015: $10,945,515
Support Staff-Administrative salaries and bonuses
FY2023: $25,195,734
FY2022: $21,454,291
FY2021: $21,974,317
FY2020: $21,898,614
FY2019: $19,666,422
FY2018: $19,340,875
FY2017: $17,411,145
FY2016: $8,648,036
FY2015: $9,173,985
Severance payments
FY2023: $2,581,688
FY2022: $1,967,776
FY2021: $2,485,921
FY2020: $3,188,556
FY2019: $117,158
FY2018: $2,017,961
FY2017: $5,416,948
FY2016: $3,663,380
FY2015: $0
Recruiting
FY2023: $3,847,229
FY2022: $2,861,252
FY2021: $319,228
FY2020: $1,606,398
FY2019: $2,064,150
FY2018: $1,881,103
FY2017: $1,694,126
FY2016: $1,268,907
FY2015: $1,265,686
Team travel
FY2023: $11,436,251
FY2022: $9,582,477
FY2021: $6,136,833
FY2020: $6,391,590
FY2019: $7,330,572
FY2018: $7,538,225
FY2017: $6,661,322
FY2016: $6,056,800
FY2015: $5,729,096
Student-athlete meals (non-travel)
FY2023: $5,760,884
FY2022: $5,103,312
FY2021: $4,515,271
FY2020: $3,117,603
FY2019: $2,321,948
FY2018: $2,570,862
FY2017: $3,011,976
FY2016: $1,612,820
Facilities debt
FY2023: $11,212,834
FY2022: $16,033,904
FY2021: $13,022,780
FY2020: $11,365,488
FY2019: $7,814,877
FY2018: $6,147,171
FY2017: $5,222,260
FY2016: $5,311,260
FY2015: $5,427,967
Administrative expenses
FY2023: $13,291,480
FY2022: $10,540,713
FY2021: $12,150,473
FY2020: $11,167,187
FY2019: $10,942,297
FY2018: $9,834,111
FY2017: $12,467,799
FY2016: $7,944,757
FY2015: $5,287,919
Note: This includes facilities maintenance, security, risk management, utilities, equipment repair. telephone and other administrative expenses.
Sports equipment, uniforms and supplies
FY2023: $6,623,758
FY2022: $4,914,450
FY2021: $5,106,714
FY2020: $4,741,594
FY2019: $4,358,927
FY2018: $5,129,968
FY2017: $3,811,943
FY2016: $2,924,290
FY2015: $2,367,424
Game expenses
FY2023: $6,185,069
FY2022: $5,231,563
FY2021: $1,651,107
FY2020: $5,042,295
FY2019: $4,629,301
FY2018: $4,173,781
FY2017: $4,173,781
FY2016: $4,216,834
Note: These are “game-day expenses other than travel which are necessary for intercollegiate athletics competition, including officials, security, event staff, ambulance, etc.”
Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust.
Brian Fonseca may be reached at [email protected].
©2024 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit nj.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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