Greg Sankey announces major change to SEC field, court storming fine policy

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey closed the conference’s annual Spring Meetings in Destin by taking an even stronger stance against league fans storming the court or field of play after a big upset.

The SEC will now fine host programs a set fine of $500,000 for allowing their fans onto the field of play, according to The State reporter Jordan Kaye, doing away with the previous escalating fines depending on the number and frequency of previous offenses.

SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey making some closing remarks at the SEC Meetings.

He said all field/court stormings will cost the home team $500,000. There will be no more escalating scale — $100k to $250k to $500k

— Jordan Kaye (@jordankaye_23) May 29, 2025

In prior years, the SEC utilized an escalating scale for field storming punishments, with the first offense costing the home team $100,000. A second offense would result in a $250,000 fine, while all subsequent offenses would cost half a million dollars. Now, every instance will result in a hefty $500,000 fine for the offending program.

Per SEC policy, “institutions shall limit access to competition areas to participating student-athletes, coaches, officials, support personnel and properly credentialed or authorized individuals at all times. For the safety of participants and spectators alike, at no time before, during or after a contest may spectators enter the competition area.” Prior to last season, the league ruled all fines would be paid directly to the visiting program.

Vanderbilt fined three times for fans storming court/field during 2024-25 academic year

The SEC experienced multiple instances of court or field storming throughout the 2024-25 athletic calendar, including famously when Vanderbilt fans flowed onto the FirstBank Stadium field after a stunning 40-35 upset of then-No. 1 Alabama on Oct. 6, 2024. That cost the Commodores $100,000 since it was the program’s first offense since the SEC last updated its policy. The Crimson Tide were on the other side of two field stormings last season, with Oklahoma also getting dinged $200,000 — $100,000 to Alabama and $100,000 to the SEC — after its 24-3 upset in Norman last November.

Of course, it wouldn’t be the last as Vanderbilt was fined three times last year, including $500,000 for a second of back-to-back weekend court-stormings inside Memorial Coliseum in January. That last court-storming even prompted first-year Commodores basketball coach Mark Byington to quip: “If we gotta start a GoFundMe page or something to pay the fines, we’ll figure it out.”

Ole Miss was hit with a $500,000 fine following a 78-76 upset of No. 4 Tennessee in basketball on March 6, prompting Rebels athletic director Keith Carter to chastise his own fanbase. A few weeks earlier, Georgia football coach Kirby Smart and AD Josh Brooks both successfully kept excited Bulldogs fans at bay long enough to allow rival Florida to leave the court following an 88-83 upset of the then-No. 3 ranked Gators inside Stegman Coliseum on Feb. 25, thus avoiding a costly fine from the SEC.

Lane Kiffin calls out field storming as worst tradition in college football

Storming the field is a longstanding tradition in college football, but its downsides are often stated by critics and leagues even fine their schools when fans do so. Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin has been a part of many and has mixed feelings on the topic.

Kiffin recently made an appearance on This Past Weekend with Theo Von, where he was asked the most aggravating tradition in college football and chose field storming. He pointed out safety issues for coaches and players as being a main reason why.

“The fan storming thing is a little tough,” he said. “They don’t do it in the NFL. I get it. It’s pretty cool, but then it can be aggravating because they’re storming and you’re worried about them hitting you, what’s going on, what are they gonna do? It’s very invasive at that point. But I think if they could just let everybody out and then let the fans on so they can tear the goal post down, because that stuff is cool.”

Von relayed a personal story he had of a field storming when he attended Vanderbilt‘s upset of Alabama this past season. He experience some of the downsides of field storming when Commodores players hugged him in the excitement, resulting in some injuries.

“I was at the Alabama-Vanderbilt game and that was pretty cool,” Von said. “Some guy on the sidelines squeezed me so hard it bruised one of my ribs, or dislocated it. Then every other player kept hugging me. So it was just one after another, just the biggest guys you’ve ever even seen all hugging you.”

Kiffin responded: “Yeah, but you were at a historic moment that will probably never happen again. So I mean, it was a once-in-a-lifetime.”

— On3’s Chandler Vessels contributed to this report.