By Craig Wolff/The Star-Ledger
Rutgers University, banking on the promise of new wealth when it joins the affluent Big Ten Conference this summer, projects it will soon begin slashing subsidy payments to the athletics department and bring the sports program — almost, but not quite — to a break-even point by 2022, according to a draft of the school’s financial forecast obtained by The Star-Ledger.
The projections rely heavily on the prospect of mega-television deals and the allure of the Big Ten to sell tickets and attract donations and sponsors even as the Scarlet Knights face a difficult initiation against more powerful and established opponents.
After giving the athletics department an unprecedented $47 million last year — much of it to cover one-time expenses — the university anticipates its subsidy will be reduced by nearly half over the next two years and continue to fall until 2022, when a $3.1 million subsidy is projected.
The projections contained in the financial forecast fulfill Rutgers’ recently unveiled a long-term strategic plan to begin slicing into the athletic subsidies within five years.
Getting close to solvency will be expensive.
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