Is Rutgers athletics making up financial ground? Here’s what latest NCAA report reveals

20/01/2024

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.”

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Brian Fonseca may be reached at [email protected].