SEC releases new field-storm policies for upcoming season; conference releases schedule format for 2024

SANDESTIN BEACH, Fla. (WAFB) - The Southeastern Conference has released a new field-storming policy for the upcoming season during the SEC spring meetings.

The SEC also established a scheduling format for the 2024 football season as it continues to finalize a long-term strategy as a 16-team conference, it was announced Thursday.

According to the SEC, each institution must provide security and uniform law enforcement presence around each team and game officials before, during, and after the event to prevent contact with spectators.

The area where teams and officials are dropped off and their path to/from team areas must be secure and not accessible to the general public. In the event of a field or court rush, use uniformed law enforcement personnel and equipment, i.e. rope, barricade, and expandable tunnels, to secure a clear path off the playing surface.

Escalated penalties for field storming: first offense is $100k; second is $250; third offense is $500k. “I have the ability to impose additional penalties,” Sankey says. And the fines will be paid directly to the opponent who is subjected to the field/court storm.

In the one-year schedule, SEC teams will play eight conference games plus one required opponent from the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, or major independent during the 2024 season when the University of Oklahoma and the University of Texas join the league.

In addition, the SEC will eliminate divisional standings beginning in 2024. The SEC Championship Game will feature the two top teams in the Conference standings at the end of the regular season. The single-standings format will allow every school to play every other school a minimum of two times in a four-year period, regardless of whether the SEC utilizes an 8-game or 9-game format for future Conference competition

“We have been engaged in planning for the entry of Oklahoma and Texas into the SEC since the summer of 2021, but the change of the membership date from 2025 to 2024 creates scheduling complexities that can better be managed with a one-year schedule,” said SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey.

“During this time of change, our fans will continue to enjoy traditional rivalries and begin to see new matchups presented by the addition of two historically successful football programs to the SEC,” Sankey said. Each school’s opponents for the 2024 season will be announced June 14 on a special primetime show on the SEC Network, and dates of games will be announced at a later date.

The schedule format was approved by a vote of the SEC Presidents and Chancellors following a recommendation from the league’s Athletics Directors during the annual SEC Spring Meetings in Sandestin Beach, Florida.

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