MIRAMAR BEACH, Fla. — The SEC conference has officially changed its policy on field and court storming scenarios ahead of the 2025-26 academic year.
League commissioner Greg Sankey, in his final press conference at league’s spring meetings, announced that violations of the SEC’s access to competition area policy will incite a flat fee of $500,000 instead of escalating fees that were set in 2023. However, Sankey said that if schools allow for visiting teams and officials to exit the field of play before fans rush the field or court, a fine will not be given.
‘We’ll welcome your celebration,’ Sankey said. ‘Let’s let the team, the visiting institutions depart.’
Sankey said the increased frequency of court and field rushes in the past three years invoked ‘meaningful conversation’ about a policy change.
‘If you are the one rushed, no matter how problematic the situation is, if it’s only the first time on campus, it’s $100,000,’ Sankey said. ‘It may be a lot more. So the motivation was field rushing is field rushing, the first time or the 18th time. We’ll offer an outlet of a delayed field rush where let the visitors exit, let the officials exit. Then you go. That goes to zero.’
Sankey said to secure no fines, there must be no interactions ‘period’ between a visiting team and the rushing team’s fans.
The $500,000 fee will continue to go to the visiting team if incurred. If the field or court storm happens during a non-conference game, Sankey said the fine will continue to go to the conference’s post-graduate scholarship fund.
In a May 28 press conference, Sankey said football field storms could be harder to police than basketball, which he still called not easy.
‘I don’t think any of it is easy,’ Sankey said. ‘It has to be done with intent.’
Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him atcgay@gannett.com or follow him@_ColinGay on X, formerly known as Twitter.