Razorbacks implement delayed field rush policy to avoid SEC fines

Maybe now at least some of the idiotic fans rushing the field at SEC games may be stemmed. At least a little, but it's not ending.

Fans at Razorback football games will have to wait three minutes before rushing the field under a new policy announced for the 2025 season, according to an announcement from the university. The SEC updated field rushing policy trying to improve safety.

It will also be expensive at $500,000 fine for each incident. In case you haven't been paying attention, that number is not something athletics director Hunter Yurachek wants deducted from the annual SEC payout to teams.

Starting next season, after a significant home victory, a three-minute countdown will be displayed on the videoboards at Razorback Stadium. This pause is designed to allow the visiting team, staff and officials to exit the field before fans are permitted to celebrate with the team.

“The safety of our student-athletes and the student-athletes from the visiting institution is extremely important to all of us,” Yurachek said in the statement. “By implementing this new policy, we are allowing the visiting team to clear the field so our fans can safely join our team on the field to celebrate the big win.

“We look forward to our fans and students complying with this policy the first time we get to implement it so we can all enjoy a huge win.”

In other words, folks can still run out on the field, but they have to wait three minutes. Exactly how that will be enforced remains to be seen because the honor system probably won't work.

The SEC raised the fine for field or court rushing to $500,000 per incident at its 2024 spring meetings. The fine is awarded to the visiting institution in conference games and goes to the league office for non-conference events.

That may be the most bitter pill to swallow. The money would go to a team you just ran on the field after beating them and that usually doesn't include teams not ranked really high.

Arkansas has previously been fined for similar incidents. The university was penalized $100,000 in 2021 after fans rushed the field following a win over Texas, and $250,000 in 2024 after defeating Tennessee.

The combined cost has made Arkansas one of the most-fined programs under the SEC’s field and court storming policy, which began in 2004.

Fans have mixed reactions to the new policy.

The SEC’s stricter policy follows several high-profile incidents in recent years. In 2022, Tennessee was fined after fans stormed the field and tore down goalposts following a win over Alabama. In 2023, Ole Miss and LSU received fines for similar celebrations.

Nationally, field and court storming has led to injuries among fans, security and players. The NCAA has left enforcement to individual conferences, but the SEC’s single-tier fine is the largest in college sports.

Yurachek said the change is intended to protect all participants while maintaining the spirit of celebration.

The Razorbacks open the 2025 season under coach Sam Pittman on Aug. 30 against Alabama A&M. The home schedule also includes the program’s first meeting with Notre Dame on Sept. 27, as well as games against Texas A&M, Auburn, Mississippi State and Missouri.

That meeting with the Irish is probably the only realistic possibility right now if anybody wanting to run out on the field.

Fans don't usually run out for a win over Mississippi State.

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