The newly-rebuilt Rutgers Stadium, which now seats 42,000 fans, is the most modern and one of the most scenic stadiums in the nation. This striking facility has drawn raves from fans, alumni, students, and broadcast executives alike. It has already hosted the four largest campus crowds in Rutgers football history.
Largest crowds:
1. 41,511 Texas 38, Rutgers 21 - 9/11/99
2. 40,011 Notre Dame 45, Rutgers 17 - 11/18/00
3 39,719 Miami 24, Rutgers 3 - 10/01/94
4. 37,220 Rutgers 14, Cincinnati 9 - 10/15/94
5. 33,820 Rutgers 27, Navy 17 - 9/16/95
Source: Rutgers University Sports Information Office
RUTGERS SHORT OF FUNDS FOR PROJECT
September 11, 2008
Copyright 2008 MediaVentures
Piscataway, N.J. - A private fund-raising effort that is critical to the expansion of Rutgers
Stadium has brought in just a fraction of what will be needed to cover a $30 million gap in the
project's financing.
Records released by the university show a $1 million pledge from Gov. Jon Corzine has been
one of the few large contributions received since January. Scarlet Knights supporters had donated
or pledged only an additional $92,962 as of Sept. 3.
Nearly all the contributions were less than $1,000. Many gave $50. One person gave $114.
The university turned to the fund-raising drive after the state refused to cover a large shortfall in the financing of the $102 million stadium expansion. The first phase of the project opened with a mezzanine section that brought nearly 1,000 new premium seats and dining facilities to the stadium. The second phase begins after the end of the current football season, and will add another 13,000 seats by closing in the stadium's open end zone.
University officials, who had refused for weeks to provide any accounting of the money being
raised for the project, downplayed the response of donors, despite a well-publicized funding
campaign spearheaded earlier this year by Corzine and state Sen. Raymond Lesniak.
"I continue to have the utmost confidence in Gov. Corzine as he leads the fund-raising
campaign," said Robert Mulcahy, the university's director of athletics, in a statement.
Lesniak repeated his belief the campaign will likely bring in far less than the $30 million target for the project. He said he was disappointed, but remains hopeful that he and the governor could eventually bring in a total of perhaps $10 million.
The Rutgers board of governors, which has known about the funding problems since July, has
been examining alternate funding plans - including hikes in ticket prices and the diversion of
millions in stadium revenues from other athletics programs Ð to help finance additional borrowing.
The board has called a special, closed-door meeting - its first since learning of the funding
problems. University officials would not discuss the reason for the meeting, saying only it involved contract negotiation and attorney-client privilege issues.
Carol Herring, president of the Rutgers University Foundation, said that raising such a large
amount of money from top donors will be a long, deliberate campaign.
"The fund-raising hasn't really started yet," she said. "I think it's going to happen. I think it's
going to work."
Bids for the major structural work on the project's second phase have come in at least $18
million higher than anticipated and the university continues to look for ways to scale back the
project without sacrificing any of the stadium's additional seating. (Newark Star Ledger)
RUTGERS MAY SCALE BACK STADIUM PLANS
October 16, 2008
Copyright 2008 MediaVentures
Piscataway, N.J. - With stock market troubles hitting Rutgers' endowment hard, the university
is considering scaling back plans to expand its football stadium.
There's no word when a decision might be made.
The university has introduced new ethics and oversight measures that were drafted amid
questions raised in recent months over spending by the athletics department.
The university also told all its departments to make contingency plans for budget cuts and to
halt all nonessential spending.
Rutgers is $30 million short of its fund-raising goals to complete a $102 million expansion to its football stadium. The first phase of work is done, with the second scheduled to start after the current season. (Newsday)
October 23, 2008
Copyright 2008 MediaVentures
Rutgers University expects to sell its football stadium naming rights to a New Jersey-based company for between $1.5 million and $2 million annually before next year's season-opener. Four companies are interested in putting their name on the stadium in Piscataway for 15 to 30 years, T.J. Nelligan, founder of Nelligan Sports Marketing, Inc., the exclusive marketing agent for Rutgers athletics, said. The Scarlet Knights are in the midst of a $102 million stadium expansion that will increase seating by 13,500 to 56,000. The athletic department, which is $30 million short of its fundraising goal, will use the stadium sponsorship revenue to underwrite its debt, the school said. (Bloomberg)
November 13, 2008
Copyright 2008 MediaVentures
Despite growing concerns that the second phase of Rutgers' stadium expansion plans will be
delayed, scaled down or perhaps even grind to a halt because of a major financial shortfall, head
coach Greg Schiano remains resolute in his belief that the work will get done. Bids for the project, with the centerpiece being an additional 13,000 seats in the south end zone, are due back in approximately two weeks, associate director of athletics Kevin MacConnell said. Construction work is ongoing despite a reported gap of $30 million needed to complete the project - and no state assistance forthcoming. (Newark Star Ledger)
RUTGERS TRIMS BACK STADIUM PLANS
December 18, 2008
Copyright 2008 MediaVentures
Piscataway, N.J. - The Rutgers governing board unanimously approved a vastly scaled-back
plan to complete the university's $102 million stadium expansion that would add 12,000 new seats.
The price of the stadium, as approved by the board nearly a year ago, will not change. But what
they get for that money will be a spartan project never envisioned - devoid of the new locker
rooms, reception areas and other enhancements that skyrocketing costs have now made
unaffordable.
Rutgers will also borrow the entire cost of the project, acknowledging that a $30 million fund-
raising effort to bridge a gap in the finance had failed.
The cost of additional borrowing will mean higher ticket prices - as much as $40 for an end
zone seat, up from $30. There's also a call for required yearly seat donations that will average $100 for all sideline seating, over and above the face value of a season ticket. The officials said this is common practice at most of the schools in the Big East Conference, where Rutgers competes.
The first phase of the project was completed in September, adding 968 premium seats and a
club lounge. Officials say to date, 870 club seats have been sold.
The second phase called for enclosing the now open south end zone, adding seating and
various other amenities. However, money problems quickly mounted.
When it approved the project in January, the board authorized the university to borrow no more
than $72 million - considered at that time the limit of debt that could be supported by stadium
revenue.
With the price tag of the stadium expansion set at $102 million, the university turned to Trenton
to fill the $30 million gap and Gov. Jon Corzine volunteered to head a fund-raising drive to bring in private donations. Over the past year, though, the cost of the project continued to rise and the fund-raising effort sputtered.
The superstructure making up the south end will be completed with the seating, along with the
facade, and it will be enclosed. Restrooms will be built. But the rest of the interior will be left unfinished, with the option to complete it in the future.
The cuts are expected to save at least $12.8 million, the officials said.
One of the project's main proponents, university's athletic director, Robert E. Mulcahy - who
was fired amid growing questions over his department's spending - was not in his attendance.
(Newark Star Ledger)
$5 MILLION GIFT AIDS RUTGERS STADIUM
July 16, 2009
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Rutgers, N.J. - Two donors have pledged $5 million for a recruiting lounge to be added to an
expanded Rutgers University stadium. The lounge was trimmed from earlier plans because of
higher than expected construction costs.
Board members voted in December to scrap the lounge - along with other extras such as locker
rooms and media facilities - when faced with a $30 million shortfall in the $102 million project that will add 11,500 seats.
STADIUM WORK HELPING RUTGERÕS FINANCES
December 10, 2009
Copyright 2009 MediaVentures
Rutgers, N. J. - An expansion of Rutgers Stadium is expected to result in a major increase in
revenue to the schoolÕs athletic program. Reports say the expansion is expected to result in $10.7 million in ticket revenue, five times what the school took in in 2005.
The school also received $2.5 million in club seat sales. Ticket prices increased $10 each overall.
The money more than covers the $6.9 million annual debt service on the $102 million project that brought the venueÕs capacity to 52,454 seats.
Original estimates said ticket revenue would generate $7.5 million on capacity rates of 75 to 85 percent. Actual capacity was 93 percent.
The construction added 28 luxury suites to the stadium at $15,000 a year each. The 852 club seats sold for $2,500 each. Both groups were also required to buy $650 in season tickets.
