You’ve gotta be kidding me …
The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is cranking up their penalties on universities whose students and fans storm a football field or rush a basketball court. Instead of having a fine system that escalates, the SEC will now slap each incident with a $500,000 fee.
“The motivation was ‘field rushing is field rushing, the first time or the 18th time,’” said commissioner Greg Sankey while announcing the news Thursday, per CBS Sports. “The random nature of, if you’re the one getting rushed, it doesn’t feel good. It might be the first time (it happened) there, but it might be your sixth time in a row, literally.” (RELATED: NCAA March Madness Might Get Ruined By The Almighty Dollar Just Like … Well … Everything Else)
The SEC also has the power to nix the fine if the away team and referees are able to access the locker room prior to fans leaving the stands.
In the previous policy that began in 2004, a first offense would trigger a $100,000 fine, a second offense would hit $250,000, and then it would crank up to $500,000 for a third offense. Now, it will be a $500,000 fine after $500,000 fine after $500,000 fine.
NEW: Greg Sankey says the SEC will no longer use an escalating scale for field and court storming fines.
Stormings will now cost the home team $500,000.
(h/t @jordankaye_23) https://t.co/qa9iSDQUIY pic.twitter.com/YCH2JoPH3G
— On3 (@On3sports) May 29, 2025
One of the best things about college sports, football and basketball in particular, is the element of “storming” and “rushing” the playing field. The SEC is clearly trying to take that away, and quite frankly, it’s sad.
Let the kids be kids, man.
This article was originally published at dailycaller.com
