SEC fines Tennessee for fan fiasco vs. Ole Miss

The SEC has fined the University of Tennessee $250,000 for Saturday’s interruption of its game vs. Ole Miss due to fans throwing debris on to the field, the league announced Monday.

“The disruption of Saturday night’s game is unacceptable and cannot be repeated on any SEC campus,” SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey stated in a press release. “Today’s actions are consistent with the oversight assigned by the membership to the SEC office, including the financial penalty and review of alcohol availability. We will use this opportunity to reemphasize to each SEC member the importance of providing a safe environment even with the intensity of competition that occurs every week. We will also reengage our membership in further review of the alcohol availability policy to consider additional measures for the sale and management of alcohol while providing the appropriate environment for collegiate competition.”

Under the sportsmanship, game management and alcohol availability policies established by the SEC, Tennessee will do the following.

• Be assessed a fine of $250,000, which will be deducted from the University’s share of SEC revenue distribution.
• Be required to use all available resources, including security, stadium and television video, to identify individuals who threw objects on to the playing field or at the opposing team. All individuals identified as having been involved in disrupting the game shall be prohibited from attending Tennessee Athletics events for the remainder of the 2021-22 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.
• Following completion of this review and prior to the University of Tennessee’s next home football game, 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.

Despite the incident, the SEC said it will not suspend alcohol sales privileges for Tennessee at this time but reserves the right to do so if other requirements outlined above are not met.