Overview

• The 2025-26 SEC regulation replaces a tiered sanction system with a single $500,000 fine for any premature rush that blocks visiting teams or officials from leaving.
• The conference introduced a “delayed field rush” option allowing fans to celebrate once opposing squads and officials have fully vacated, avoiding any penalty.
• Fines collected during SEC matchups will go to the visiting team, while penalties from non-conference games will fund the league’s postgraduate scholarship program.
• The policy change follows a season of high-profile incidents that saw Alabama’s program receive $400,000 after rival fan invasions by Vanderbilt, Tennessee and Oklahoma.
• Commissioner Greg Sankey said insights from controlled exits in basketball highlighted the need for a straightforward, uniformly enforced approach.