{
  "id": 7984264,
  "title": "Here's how much Rutgers spent on its football roster - and how it compares to top teams",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/17/heres-how-much-rutgers-spent-on-its-football-roster-and-how-it",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-09-17T08:05:45.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Yahoo Sports",
    "slug": "yahoo-sports",
    "url": "https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/heres-much-rutgers-spent-football-080545698.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Rutgers' football program has seen an increase in resources recently, but there is still significant ground to cover. A report by The Athletic reveals that the Scarlet Knights' Non-Identified Living (NIL) roster budget is estimated to be between $20 and $23 million. This places Rutgers 14th out of the 18 Big Ten teams and 46th out of the 68 Power 4 teams. The only other Big Ten teams with lower budgets than Rutgers are Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa, and Purdue. The Athletic gathered data from officials across Power 4 conferences to estimate these figures. It is not surprising that teams with larger budgets, such as Ohio State ($49-54 million), Oregon ($48-54 million), and Texas ($45-55 million), are among the best teams in the nation. LSU, the former school of Rutgers athletic director Keli Zinn, falls just below Rutgers with a budget of $47-50 million. Rutgers' upcoming opponent, USC, which is ranked 11th, has a more substantial budget of $37-40 million, ranking third in the Big Ten. Zinn did not confirm the exact budget for Rutgers, but it is consistent with The Athletic's report. Rutgers has suffered its first two losses to UMass and Boston College, both of which have lower budgets. While Rutgers' budget doesn't excuse these losses, it highlights the team's performance compared to its Big Ten rivals. The absence of an established NIL infrastructure prior to Zinn's hiring likely contributed to Rutgers' lower budget. Despite the support from Zinn's hiring, Rutgers still lags behind most of its Big Ten peers in roster budgets.",
  "summary": "Rutgers football has more resources than previously, but still ranks near the bottom of the Big Ten.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}