Rutgers since joining the Big Ten in '14 has struggled on the playing field -- highlighted by its 78-0 loss to Michigan on Saturday -- but the reasons it was invited to join the conference "are as operative now as ever," as it is "financially a win-win" for both the school and league, according to Marc Tracy of the N.Y. TIMES. Rutgers is "better off in the Big Ten," where it receives about $10M in annual conference revenue. In a few years, that "will vest to a figure" north of $40M each year. By contrast, had RU stayed in the AAC, it would "claim just a few million dollars a year in conference revenue." The Big Ten’s presence in New Jersey and Maryland -- where it also expanded into in '14 -- is "often painted purely as a math solution to a math problem: planting flags on the East Coast, including in and near the Washington and New York metropolitan areas." That is "all true." Big Ten Network President Mark Silverman said that the net in RU's first year added 8 million homes in the N.Y. area and "experienced a higher-than-expected rise in advertising revenue." Tracy notes without Rutgers and Maryland, it is "not at all clear that the Big Ten could have secured reported rights deals" with ESPN, Fox and CBS worth $250M annually. But Rutgers "brought other assets, harder to appraise but still valuable." It prevented the ACC from "adding Rutgers, thereby keeping New Jersey’s rich recruiting soil, long dominated by Big Ten stalwarts like Penn State and Michigan" (N.Y. TIMES, 10/12).
