Politi: It's official: Rutgers got a lousy deal from the Big Ten

per Politi:

Let's be clear on this from the start: This is not a second guess. Back in November 2012, Jim Delany could have demanded anything from Rutgers officials and they would have agreed with a smile -- and understandably so.

Delany: "We'll accept you into the Big Ten, but only if you change the name of the university to Jim Delany's Awesome Intergalactic Starfleet Academy and speak nothing but Vulcan."

The longtime Big Ten commissioner is a master dealmaker, and during those negotiations, he had all the leverage. Any deal to get out of the American Athletic Conference and into the nation's premier conference, especially when it looked like the music would stop in the conference realignment game without the Scarlet Knights finding a chair, was one that they had to take.

As I wrote back then: Rutgers just wanted a lifeboat and ended up on a Carnival cruise ship.

Still, four and a half years later, it is impossible not to look at the financial details and not conclude that Delany gave Rutgers a lousy deal -- and it's one that is making it harder for Rutgers to build the infrastructure necessary to truly compete in its new league.

Big Ten rival Michigan revealed this week that, thanks to the league's new TV contract, it is expecting a payout of $51.1 million from the conference in 2017-18. That is the same chunk of cash that Ohio State, Indiana, Illinois and the rest will add to their coffers.

But not Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights are projected to get just $11.6 million. As the athletic department races to build the facilities needed to compete in the conference, it will receive just one-fifth of the revenue that its well-heeled rivals are banking.

You have to hand it to Delany. As the critics were snickering about adding Rutgers, he was positioning the Big Ten to become richer and even more powerful as the college landscape shifted. He has earned every penny of a $20 million bonus he is set to receive -- which, of course, is more than Rutgers will get in any of the first six years in the league.

Rutgers is part of his fiefdom now, and in the long-term, the Scarlet Knights will reap the benefits of these massive paydays. For now, though, they're lining up against Michigan and Ohio State with one-fifth of the revenue from the league. At least Delany didn't demand to rename the place.

http://www.nj.com/rutgersfootball/i...usy_deal_from_the_big.html#incart_river_index

Go Gophers!!

I thought everyone was on a sliding scale until they eventually got an even share. That's no mystery.

I forget if it was Rutgers or Maryland, one of them asked for more up front but it meant they wouldn't get the usual share for longer.

Either way this is bitching just to make a story.

I have read approximately 2,973 dedicated to the idea that the Big Ten should have not added Rutgers. These are literally the first sentences I've seen dedicated to the idea that somehow the deal is bad for Rutgers.

I say we let them out of the deal if it is so bad for them.


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justthefacts said:

I have read approximately 2,973 dedicated to the idea that the Big Ten should have not added Rutgers. These are literally the first sentences I've seen dedicated to the idea that somehow the deal is bad for Rutgers.

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Agreed. The deal still isn't bad for Rutgers because their alternative was what? Independence? AAC? MAC/Conf USA? I'm betting $11 million is more than they would have gotten from any of those options. In 2021 when they're getting the full share I'm sure they'll be just fine with the fact that they "only" got $11 million this year.

The other thing to keep in mind: Rutgers (I believe) is getting a full share of Bowl money and some share of other sponsorship funds (all the "official sponsor of the B1G"). The above is only TV. Not to mention likely more lucrative opportunities for Bowl games (assuming they'd make one).

The one thing I will say in Rutgers' (and Maryland's) behalf though - look at the difference in the TV money the B1G is getting after they were added. The whole reason they were added is to increase the amount of TV dollars. It seems a little pimpish to use them to get this huge TV contract and then only give them a small percentage. If nothing else, they probably should have gotten an equal share of the increase with the new contract, though again there is a lot more to the picture than just TV money.

In the end, nobody made these schools join the B1G. They understood what they would gain and what the timeline was and they considered it best for their universities. So I won't shed a tear for either one...

A_Slab_of_Bacon said:

I thought everyone was on a sliding scale until they eventually got an even share. That's no mystery.

I forget if it was Rutgers or Maryland, one of them asked for more up front but it meant they wouldn't get the usual share for longer.

Either way this is bitching just to make a story.

Click to expand...

Yep.

http://www.nj.com/rutgersfootball/i...s_rutgers_getting_from_the_big_ten_and_w.html

Given this article does NOT include the rather important bit of information related to the sliding scale and the fact Rutgers would get the same as everyone else after they have been in the league a while... I call BS on the writer that wrote it.

Spoofin said:

I say we let them out of the deal if it is so bad for them.


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Click to expand...

I 2nd this

Schnauzer said:

Given this article does NOT include the rather important bit of information related to the sliding scale and the fact Rutgers would get the same as everyone else after they have been in the league a while... I call BS on the writer that wrote it.

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And, they agreed to it knowing they would be only getting a fraction.

However, the author's point that they are in effect getting further and further behind as they won't have the money to try to keep up with facilities (when they started off already behind) is worth pointing out.