On Sunday a pair of SEC programs were fined by the conference for what transpired during and after games on Saturday.
The Texas Longhorns received a fine for fans in the student section throwing bottles onto the field after a player was flagged for pass interference. The call was reversed following the delay to clean the debris off the field.
The Tennessee Volunteers were fined for fans rushing the field for violation of access to competition area policy. For the second straight time at Neyland Stadium, Vols fans rushed the field to celebrate with their team after knocking off the Alabama Crimson Tide. This wasn’t a normal occurrence while Nick Saban patrolled the sidelines for the Tide from 2007 until his retirement at the end of the 2023 season. Tennessee only beat Alabama once during the Saban era, which came in the 2021 season.
University of Texas fined for bottle throwing
“The throwing of debris and resulting interruption of play that took place Saturday night cannot be part of any SEC event,” said SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey. “The SEC is assigned responsibility by its membership to enforce its sportsmanship and game management policies and these actions are consistent with that oversight responsibility, including the financial penalty and mandated reviews.”
Under the sportsmanship, game management and alcohol availability policies established by the Southeastern Conference, the University of Texas will:
- Be assessed a financial penalty of $250,000;
- Be required to use all available resources, including security, stadium and television video, to identify individuals who threw objects onto the playing field or at the opposing team. All individuals identified as having been involved in disrupting the game shall be prohibited from attending Texas Athletics events for the remainder of the 2024-25 academic and athletic year;
- Review and update its Athletics Department game management procedures and alcohol availability policies to prevent a recurrence of Saturday night’s disruption, which shall include an evaluation of agreed upon SEC Sportsmanship, Game Management and Alcohol policies to verify full compliance with existing standards, and
- Following completion of this review, the University shall provide a report to the Conference Office to summarize its efforts to identify and penalize offenders and its plan to enact policies to prevent future similar incidents while ensuring compliance with Conference standards.
The actions taken by the Conference are consistent with SEC Bylaws and Commissioner’s Regulations related to the availability of alcoholic beverages at athletics events which states, “If cans or plastic bottles are used as projectiles or otherwise cause game management issues, the institution is subject to an immediate fine and suspension of the alcohol sales privilege.”
University of Tennessee fined for fans rushing the field
The Southeastern Conference announced today that the University of Tennessee will be fined for violation of the league’s access to competition area policy due to fans entering the field following its football game vs. the University of Alabama on October 19.
Tennessee will incur a fine of $100,000 for a first offense under the league’s current access to competition area policy that was revised at the SEC Spring Meetings in 2023.
For Conference contests, fines are paid to the opposing institution.
The policy states that “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.”
Financial penalties are imposed for violations in all sports sponsored by the Conference. Institutional penalties range from $100,000 for a first offense, $250,000 for a second offense and $500,000 for a third and subsequent offenses.
The policy was originally adopted by a vote of Conference members in 2004 and financial penalties were increased by action taken by the membership in 2015 and again in 2023.