The biggest news to come out of the SEC spring meetings is that the conference will have an eight-game conference schedule in 2024 instead of a nine-game schedule but it is not the only significant news.
The conference presidents also voted Thursday to increase the fines for fans storming the field or court and added new policies to help protect the players.
The winning team will now be fined $100,000 for their first offense, $250,000 for a second offense and $500,000 for a third offense and the money will go directly to the losing school. Commissioner Greg Sankey has the option to add additional fines and the count for each school has been reset with the new policies, according to Ross Dellenger of Sports Illustrated.
The schools were previously fined $50,000 for their first offense, $100,000 for their second offense and $250,000 for their third offense.
In addition to increased fines, each school has to submit a detailed field or court rush management plan to the conference by Aug. 1, as well as a communication plan that discourages fans from entering the playing surface and lays out the penalties for doing so.
The schools will also be required to have uniformed law enforcement and security around each team and officials before, during and after the game to keep fans away from them and in the event of a field storming that will create a safe zone to keep them separated. They will have access to barricades and other equipment to clear a path for them off the field or court.
The fans will be allowed onto the field without penalty once the teams and officials have left the playing area.
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