Rutgers Univ. “spent more money on athletics than any other public institution in the six biggest football conferences during the 2009-2010 fiscal year,” according to study by Eichelberger & Staley of BLOOMBERG NEWS. More than 40% of sports revenue “came from student fees and the university’s general fund.” Football revenue at Rutgers totaled $24M in FY ’10, and the team “had an operating loss of $2.9 million, excluding university subsidies and student fees.” The deficit “was the widest in the 53-school Bloomberg survey.” The Univ. of Connecticut “reported the only other football red ink.” The data showed that the “average football team had an operating gain” of $17.2M. Rutgers professor Catherine Lugg said, “We’re told that at some day in the future we will see the pots of gold made by football. When someone says that, I say ‘Yeah, and I’d like a pony for Christmas.’ It’s just not going to happen.” Rutgers in ’09 hired AD Tim Pernetti and the school “made it one of his priorities to shrink the university’s support for sports.” His contract “provides for a $10,000 bonus in any year when the subsidy doesn’t increase and the amount also falls as a percentage of the athletic budget.” Rutgers Dir of Media Relations E.J. Miranda said that Pernetti “has never earned the bonus.” Pernetti said, “We have a revenue problem, not an expense problem. The president, the board, the administration and I agree what the goal is. We want to develop a program that protects the image of the university, that can succeed on and off the field, and that can generate the revenue necessary to stabilize and then reduce university support.” Pernetti negotiated a 10-year, $6.5M contract this year with High Point Solutions for the “right to rename the football stadium.” He also “got almost $4 million from Volkswagen AG’s Audi for naming rights to the club seating section.” His plan to “increase revenue depends on the Big East’s ability to negotiate higher television fees when its football contract” with ESPN expires after the '13 football season. In addition, Rutgers “plans to seek bids for an athletic-department wide apparel deal.” Pernetti said that the football and basketball coaches “now have their own deals with Nike Inc. and keep the fees.”
GRABBING 'EM BY THE HORNS: Eichelberger & Staley noted not all athletic programs “rely on university funds,” as seven schools -- including the Univ. of Texas -- “didn’t give any money to athletics in fiscal 2010.” About two-thirds of UT’s $143.6M in revenue “came from football.” UT Senior Associate AD for Communications Nick Voinis said that the school's athletics department “has been pouring funds into academics for years and endowed two faculty chairs at $1 million each.” He said that with the launch of the Longhorn Network later this month, athletics and academics “will split $10 million a year in expected new revenue” (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 8/16).
