Menu
Download the app

SBJ subscribers – Enhance your experience with the revamped iOS app

Facilities

Rutgers Unveils Master Plan For Facility Upgrades, Including Basketball Practice Venue

The Rutgers Univ. governing board on Thursday approved a "physical master plan designed to show the future of the four campuses, and the Scarlet Knights athletics program appears to be getting a major facelift," according to Keith Sargeant of the Newark STAR-LEDGER. Inside the plan are 18 pages "dedicated to potential facilities upgrades to benefit athletics on the New Brunswick and Piscataway campuses." Rutgers President Robert Barchi said, "We've been working on a plan for athletics for 18 months." He added, "What we have now is a plan-forward for the next 10 or so years for athletics that we think is a reasonable, doable cost-effective plan that makes the best use of the resources that we might be able to raise and addresses multiple issues. It takes care of things that we have to do in terms of Title IX, things that we have to do in terms of deferred maintenance and things that we ought to do in terms of competitiveness.'' Sargeant notes Rutgers officials are "calling for a multi-use facility to satisfy the men's and women's basketball programs, as well as the majority of the other 24 Scarlet Knights teams." It would be "built atop and around a parking deck adjacent to the 37-year old Rutgers Athletic Center, which could get its own facelift in the years ahead." Additionally, the plan "calls for the Rutgers football program to take over the Hale Center while the men's and women's soccer programs, women's tennis and men's and women's lacrosse will move into the bowels of the south-end zone bleachers in High Point Solutions Stadium." Barchi declined to "give specifics on the cost of any of the projects," but he "reiterated the academics side of the house won't be paying for the athletics development." Barchi: "We've got a plan that we can put in the ground tomorrow. But I'm not putting a shovel in the ground until I see the commitment from the donors to make this happen" (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 6/19). Barchi said that the athletics upgrades would be between $200-300M. In New Jersey, Patricia Alex cites sources as saying that the basketball practice facility "could be between" $55-70M (Bergen RECORD, 6/19).

KEEPING UP APPEARANCES: New Jersey Sen. Raymond Lesniak said, "The plan is Big Ten quality. ... It's a plan that we can all get behind and work together to get done" (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 6/19). In Newark, Dan Duggan noted Barchi and Rutgers AD Julie Hermann will "meet with a group of major athletics donors on June 29 to discuss the plans." That meeting "will be a starting point to determine how much can be reasonably accomplished and when." Hermann said that it "didn't make sense to make upgrades solely for football or basketball because the entire athletic department needs help to compete in the Big Ten." Hermann: "We're Big Ten and it's time for us to step up on every level" (NJ.com, 6/18). In Newark, Steve Politi writes this is a "potential game changer," and would allow Rutgers' coaches a "chance to recruit on a level that would make their teams competitive." Rutgers has "had big plans and pretty drawings before." But the school needs them to "become a reality this time, and that means a donor base shaking off its sticker shock and opening its wallets" (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 6/19).

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2015/06/19/Facilities/Rutgers.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2015/06/19/Facilities/Rutgers.aspx

CLOSE