The SEC passed rule changes and made important announcements on Friday. (Getty Images)
The SEC passed rule changes and made important announcements on Friday. (Getty Images)

DESTIN, Florida -- The SEC passed a new rule Friday preventing transfers from entering the conference who were previously disciplined by a different school due to “serious misconduct.”

The SEC defined “serious misconduct” as sexual assault, domestic violence or other forms of sexual violence. The rule excludes banning transfers if at a previous school the player had “limited discipline applied by a sports team, or temporary disciplinary action during an investigation.”

SEC commissioner-elect Greg Sankey said he is not aware of another conference having such a transfer policy related to personal conduct and isn’t concerned if other leagues adopt similar provisions. “I think that’s a leadership opportunity,” Sankey said.

If the rule had been in effect earlier this year, Alabama would not have been allowed to sign defensive lineman Jonathan Taylor, who was dismissed by Georgia after he was arrested for domestic violence. Taylor was dismissed by Alabama following another domestic violence arrest. The accuser in Alabama later recanted her accusation.

The initial SEC proposal, which came from Georgia, also defined serious misconduct as “other forms of physical violence.” Sankey said the SEC decided this was an appropriate stopping point for the legislation at this time. “But sure, there’s conversations on other pieces,” he said. "I think it's a continuing conversation."

The SEC rule doesn’t specifically address what happens if an athlete is dismissed from a team due to an arrest and he or she is later found innocent or charges are dropped. The trigger point to prevent a transfer -- including junior college players -- from coming into the league is a player who has been subject to official university or athletics department disciplinary action.

“We have a waiver process for everybody so that’s not unique,” Sankey said. “So if there was other information to bear at some point, that would obviously be considered. It doesn’t predict certain outcomes.”

Earlier this week, some SEC coaches expressed apprehension about the league having different transfer rules than other conferences. SEC presidents and chancellors expressed strong interest in creating some sort of rule, assuming they could work through some intricacies of the proposal.

“I actually think the league came together on this issue,” Sankey said. “There were different opinions, different perspectives. … At the end, the conference came together fully.”

Major payday for SEC

The SEC Network, College Football Playoff and new bowl deals paid off for the SEC in a big way. The SEC announced it will pay its schools an average of $31.2 million this year, up from $21 million the conference reported to the IRS for 2013-14.

The SEC said it distributed $455.8 million to members, an increase of 47 percent from last year. The SEC’s payout has almost tripled in seven years since schools received $11 million in 2008-09, prior to then-landmark deals with ESPN and CBS. ESPN.com first reported the payout figure.

This year marked the launch of the SEC’s new television network with ESPN that received full distribution from major carriers. The lucrative playoff also debuted in 2014-15 and the SEC’s bowl revenue from lower-tiered postseason games also increased this year with new contracts. SEC commissioner Mike Slive said the additional money will help provide new benefits to athletes.

Increasingly, the SEC and Big Ten are separating themselves financially from even the other three Power Five conferences. The Big 12 announced Friday its revenue distribution to members this year will range from $23 to $27 million, not including third-tier rights for members.

The Big Ten said it will not disclose its 2014-15 payout until next year. The Lafayette-Courier Journal reported in 2014 on a document showing the Big Ten projected to pay $30.9 million per member this year. (IRS records show the Big Ten’s average payout in 2013-14 was $26.4 million, with 10 schools exceeding $27.5 million. Since then, Rutgers and Maryland have joined the Big Ten.)

The SEC did not disclose specifically how its revenue broke down. But it appears the SEC received about an additional $53.5 million this year due to college football’s new postseason (approximately $3.6 million per school).

In the final year of the Bowl Championship Series, the SEC received $34 million from the BCS. College sports business reporter Kristi Dosh projected in December that the SEC’s payout from the CFP would be $87.5 million and broken down this way:

• $50 million in base money

• $6 million for Alabama playing in the CFP semifinals

• $4 million for Ole Miss playing in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl

• $27.5 million for Mississippi State playing in the Orange Bowl due to the SEC’s contract with the game

The SEC Network -- which became a reality due to the conference adding Missouri and Texas A&M in order to be available in 34 million more homes -- paid off handsomely in year one. That’s despite SEC schools paying start-up costs for the network and the latest SEC payouts only counting about 10 months of the network since it launched last August.

South Carolina athletic director Ray Tanner told his board of trustees in February that the SEC Network would conservatively pay $5 million per school this year. It’s believed the final number exceeds Tanner’s statement.

“It’s way beyond my personal expectations, way beyond what I thought we would receive,” Mississippi State president Mark Keenum said.

Odds and ends

• In an emotional news conference, Slive announced he will turn over his duties to Sankey on June 1 after 13 years leading the SEC. Slive’s contract runs through July 31, but he said this is a good stopping point for the SEC to transition to its next commissioner so there’s no confusion this summer. “The league will speak with one voice and the voice of the future and that’s Greg,” Slive said.

Slive has been battling prostate cancer. The SEC will have a prostate cancer prevention awareness campaign during the 2015 football season in honor of Slive. Each school will wear a blue helmet sticker for one game to bring awareness to the disease. “This has been the best 13 years of my life,” he said.

• The SEC increased school fines for fans rushing onto the field or court. The first offense will be $50,000, second offense will be $100,000, and third and subsequent offenses will be $250,000. Sankey will have authority to apply additional penalties as appropriate. Previously, the fine structure started at $5,000 and reached up to $50,000. The $50,000 fine would be reset after three years if there were no more offenses, but that has now changed in the new structure.

• The SEC passed rules to provide transparency on how its schools handle cost of attendance. Each year, schools will provide to the SEC office a report identifying the value of their “other expenses” related to cost of attendance and the methodology used to determine the value, including any miscellaneous amounts. Schools will also report to the SEC after each semester any individual variances provided to athletes for cost of attendance.

• The SEC increased its revenue distribution based on success in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. Playing in the first two rounds or play-in game equals $75,000, up from $50,000; reaching the Sweet 16 and/or Elite Eight is worth $100,000, up from $50,000; and making the Final Four is worth $225,000, up from $100,000. The funds come from the NCAA Tournament. Additional tournament money gets divided and shared equally with the 14 SEC members and the conference office.