SEC bumps field/court storming fines to $500K

May 29, 2025, 06:31 PM ET

MIRAMAR BEACH, Fla.– The Southeastern Conference is ratcheting up charges on schools whose fans storm the field or hurry the court, doing away with an intensifying great system and now charging $500,000 per incident.

“The motivation was ‘field hurrying is field rushing, the very first time or the 18th time,'” commissioner Greg Sankey stated Thursday in revealing the decision. “The random nature of, if you’re the one getting rushed, it does not feel great. It might be the first time (it occurred) there, however it might be your 6th time in a row, literally.”

The conference likewise has the authority to wave the fine if the going to team and officials are allowed to get to the locker space before fans descend.The brand-new policy changes an old one that required an escalating great structure that began with$100,000 for the very first offense, raised to $250,000 for the second then hit $500,000 for the third and subsequent incidents.The SEC first instituted a fine structure for field storming in 2004, but it didn’t stop the problem.In 2022, Tennessee fans stormed the field after ending a 15-game losing streak to Alabama. But things became overloaded and a few of the Crimson Tide players were trapped; a video appeared of a Tide player thrusting his arm toward a female’s head as he attempted to leave the field.Last year, Vanderbilt beat Alabama in the house, activating fans to hurry the field, tear down the goalposts and parade them to the Cumberland River. The Commodores were fined$ 100,000 and, per SEC policy, that money went to Alabama, which likewise received $100,000 for an incident after a loss at Tennessee last season.Vanderbilt got fined two times more last basketball season, the last of which cost $500,000.”We attempt to set some expectations

to the fan base of ‘We’ll welcome your celebration, but let’s let the team from the going to organization and the authorities leave,'”Sankey stated.