Ole Miss, Tennessee and Texas A&M will each have $100,000 deducted from their annual revenue distributions for failing to adhere to the league's COVID-19 protocols, according to Stadium's Brett McMurphy and Sports Illustrated's Ross Dellenger. The levying of the fines comes after ESPN reported Thursday that "multiple" teams would be subject to financial penalties for failing to adhere to league mandates.
League commissioner Greg Sankey shed light on how the fines process works Friday during an appearance on ESPN Radio, revealing it's a $100,000 penalty for the first offense, $200,000 penalty for the second offense and a $300,000 penalty for a third strike.
"We started on Monday using broadcast game footage evaluating every time a head coach is on camera is the mask up?" Sankey said. "Yes or no? And if it's no, are they social distanced? And if you don't have that mask in place a super majority of the time that you're viewed, that puts you in jeopardy of a fine."
Schools are not required to disclose they have been fined on the first offense, but Sankey said the league will announce which schools have been penalized upon subsequent offenses.
"Our head football coaches have a lot of pressure, a lot of expectations just like me," Sankey said. "They are our leaders, our most visible leaders within our athletics programs. My message is they have a responsibility to lead. Wearing those masks during our games is a leadership responsibility."