By Keith Sargeant | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Between Kyle Flood's last season and Chris Ash's first year, Rutgers saw its average announced-attendance figure decrease 6.1 percent from 47,723 in 2015 to 44,804 in 2016.

As a result, Rutgers' ticket sales for the 7-game home schedules decreased 5.9 percent — from $11.8 million in 2015 to $11.1 million in 2016.

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Julio Cortez | AP Photo

That is among the reasons why Rutgers reported an $8.2 million deficit in its football budget on the university's 2017 Fiscal Year athletics report, which was obtained Tuesday by NJ Advance Media.

Overall, Rutgers' athletics ledger shows a $47.4 million shortfall in a $99.2 million budget that was made up by $21.3 million in support from the university's operating budget, $11.8 million in student fees, and a $14.3 million internal loan.

The $99.2 million is a record amount in athletics expenditures overall, and the $27.7 million spent on football is believed to be an all-time high.

The $8.2 million deficit is the biggest financial loss for the Rutgers football program in at least a decade — likely ever — and it comes after the university reported a $3.48 million surplus in FY 2016 and an $8.1 million surplus off football in FY 2015.

Rutgers' financial budget — which covers the 2016-17 academic year — shows football lost more money than any other program, followed by men's basketball ($5.85 million) and women's basketball ($4 million). Rutgers' other 21 programs combined for a $17.3 million deficit.

Rutgers' financial wins for football in 2015 and '16 could be at least partly attributed to the university's accounting methods.

For example, Rutgers listed a large portion of its Big Ten distribution as football revenue in those two years — $2.9 million in FY2015; $4.6 million in FY2016 — but put a zero on that line while listing its $16.1 million Big Ten distribution as athletics-department revenue in FY2017.

It should also be noted that while the Rutgers athletics department was subsidized with $21.3 million from the university's general budget and with $11.7 million in student fees, none of that $33 million subsidy was earmarked as football revenue.

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Following a tumultuous 2015 campaign that resulted in Flood's firing and ultimately led to the football program getting placed on NCAA probation, Rutgers increased its financial support, arming Ash with additional resources, including an expanded support staff, an increased recruiting budget and a highly regarded nutrition program for the players.

After posting a 2-10 record that included a 0-9 mark in Big Ten play in 2016, Rutgers doubled its overall win total and finished 3-6 in league play last fall.

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Rutgers spends record total in 2016-17 | A look at the nearly $100M in expenditures https://t.co/zuSYHPiOGl #rutgers — Keith Sargeant (@KSargeantNJ) January 24, 2018

Here is a detailed look at the revenues and expenses for the Rutgers football program in FY2017 (which covers the 2016 season):

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RU football revenues and expenses for FY2016

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Keith Sargeant | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Ticket sales

The good news about Rutgers' football ticket sales? It's markedly increased since its Big Ten arrival, soaring from $8.7 million from 2013 to $11.6 million in 2014 and to a record $11.8 million in 2015.

The bad news? The $700,000 drop to $11.1 million caused Rutgers' overall ticket-sales revenue to drop 6.8 percent to $12.8 million after a record-$13.7 million during the 2015-16 season.

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What Rutgers paid its football staff

Rutgers paid nearly $9.2 million in football-staff salaries in FY2017, a 39.8 percent increase from the year before.

Included in that total is nearly $2.4 million paid to Ash, nearly $3.7 million to the Scarlet Knights' nine-man assistant staff and $3.1 million to the football support staff.

The support-staff salaries resulted in a 69.1 percent increase from FY2016 ($1.1 million).

Chris Ash earned $2 million as head coach of the Rutgers football program in Fiscal Year 2016. His nine-man assistant staff drew in $3.4 million. And the Rutgers support staff combined to earn just over $1 million.

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Guarantees

Rutgers received $400,000 from the University of Washington for its season-opening trip to Seattle in 2016. Washington received the same amount for the return trip to open the 2017 campaign in Piscataway (which will be reflected on Rutgers' FY2018 report).

Meanwhile, Rutgers paid slightly more than $1.3 million for its two non-conference home games, giving New Mexico a $900,000 guarantee and Howard $429,500.

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How much does Rutgers earn per home game?

Rutgers earned an average of $1.2 million for its seven football home games in 2016. Included in that figure is $13 million in revenue (i.e. ticket sales and program/novelty/parking/concession sales) and $4.5 million in game expenses (which includes fees for officials, security, event staff, ambulance) and opponent-guarantees.

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Details on Chris Ash's updated contract through 2022

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Photo by Andrew Mills | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

How much does RU owe on stadium expansion?

Nine years after completing a $102 million expansion on High Point Solutions Stadium, Rutgers owes $82.87 million in debt service. For Fiscal Year 2017, Rutgers paid $5.2 million toward that debt, although the figure isn't earmarked on the football program's expenses.

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Recruiting expenses

Rutgers spent $869,735 in recruiting expenses for football in 2016-17, a total that includes transportation, lodging and meals for prospective student-athletes and the coaching staff on official and unofficial visits. It marks a record-high in recruiting expenditures, exceeding the $647,632 spent in 2015-16 by 34.3 percent.

Rutgers' 2017 recruiting class ranked 42nd nationally and ninth-best in the Big Ten, according to the 247Sports.com composite rankings.

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Scholarship expenses

For the 2016 season, 95 players received some sort of scholarship aid. Rutgers' scholarship expenses in FY2017 decreased, dipping to $3.7 million after the program spent $4 million for the 2015-16 school year.

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Severance payments

Two years after firing Kyle Flood and cleaning house with the entire coaching staff, Rutgers spent nearly $3.5 million in severance payments to its deposed football coaches in FY2017.

Flood received a $1.4 million buyout, but that amount is being paid in accordance to university payroll procedures on a bi-weekly basis through Feb. 28, 2019.

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A look at Rutgers' annual attendance since 2005

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Keith Sargeant | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Team travel

For five road trips in 2016, Rutgers spent $2.15 million — a 29.4 percent increase from the 2015 season — in travel expenditures. As previously indicated, Rutgers cut down on that expense with a $400,000 guarantee from Washington.

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Multimedia/licensing revenue

As part of its 11-year, $65 million multirights pact with IMG, Rutgers received $5.7 million in licensing/advertising/sponsorship revenuue in FY2017. Approximately $4.7 million of that total was earmarked toward the football program.

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Equipment

The cost for football equipment and uniforms in FY2017 was $2.1 million. The market value for the NIKE apparel received by the football program, according to the in-kind revenue line item, was $447,695.

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Student-athlete meals

The cost for student-athlete meals for the football program was $1.75 million — a 27.7 percent increase from the 2015-16 school year.

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4-year financial forecast shows better days ahead for RU athletics

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Keith Sargeant | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Bottom line

According to its line-item budget, Rutgers football drew in $19,448,501 and spent $27,702,376 in Fiscal Year 2017. While the $27.7 million is a record high for football expenditures, the $8,253,875 financial loss is also believed to be a record for an athletics program that has run up a $399.3 million deficit since 2003-04 and $193.2 million since university President Robert Barchi took office in 2012.

Rutgers has had different Chief Financial Officers for athletics over the last decade – which resulted in different accounting methods — but here's a look at the football revenues/earnings figures since 2007:

2007: $15.7M revenue; $15.7M expenses

(Subsidized $3.7M in university support/student fees)

2008: $18.8M revenue; $18.8M expenses

(Subsidized $2.5M in university support/student fees)

2009: $22.4M revenue; $22.4M expenses

(Subsidized $3.3M in university support/student fees)

2010: $26.8M revenue; $26.8M expenses

(Subsidized $2.8M in university support/student fees)

2011: $19.5M revenue; $19.5M expenses

(Subsidized $1.3M in university support)

2012: $21.4M revenue; $21.3M expenses

(No subsidy; $61,161 surplus)

2013: $19.7M revenue; $19.7M expenses

(Subsidized $419,918 in university support)

2014: $21.7M revenue; $19.7M expenses

(No subsidy; $2M surplus)

2015: $26.7M revenue; $18.6M expenses

(No subsidy; $8.1M surplus)

2016: $28.7M revenue; $25.2M expenses

(No subsidy; $3.5M surplus)

Note: Despite giving away 10,000 free tickets to students, the Rutgers football program hasn't received a student-fee subsidy since 2011.

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Keith Sargeant may be reached at ksargeant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @KSargeantNJ. Find NJ.com Rutgers Football on Facebook.