Rutgers Athletics, IMG College Ink 11-Year, $65M Multimedia, Sponsorship Deal

The Rutgers athletic department yesterday announced an 11-year, $65M "multimedia rights and sponsorship deal" with IMG College worth "nearly" $6M annually," according to Brendan Prunty of the Newark STAR-LEDGER. The deal will "put Rutgers firmly in the realm of its future rivals, ideally boosting brand recognition and attracting new national and corporate support." With the athletic department "still operating at a deficit," the deal will "likely help Rutgers athletics push toward its goal of being financially self-sufficient." It also has an "option that Rutgers can exercise to extend it by as many as 14 years (or through the 2026-27 year)," with a guarantee of more than $87M. Both the current deal and the option to extend "include revenue-sharing opportunities, which could elevate the total value of the deal." Between that "influx of money and what Rutgers is set to begin receiving after its six-year wait period upon joining the Big Ten from the Big Ten Network revenue stream, the school’s athletic department believes its subsidies will disappear." The deal "comes nearly four months after" former AD Tim Pernetti "severed Rutgers’ existing contract with Nelligan Sports Marketing" at a cost of $7M. The 13-year relationship with Nelligan "had four years remaining" on a 13-year, $40M deal. The Nelligan contract "was set to earn Rutgers slightly more than" $3M per year, but sources said that the school was "only netting around" $1.2M. Part of the reason for the "low take-home for Rutgers with Nelligan was that the money in the contract was not guaranteed." Under the IMG College deal, "the money is guaranteed" (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 7/25).

APPLES TO APPLES: Prunty examines how IMG College's deal with Rutgers "stacks up in relation to other schools the firm represents," including overall deal value and value per year (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 7/25).