A pitch invasion, also known as field storming, rushing the field, rushing the court, or storming the court, occurs when a person or a crowd of people spectating a sporting event run onto the competition area, usually to celebrate or protest an incident, or sometimes as a publicity stunt. Consequences for participants can result in criminal charges, fines or prison time, and sanctions against the club involved, especially if they cause a disruption in play, although they may sometimes be more welcomed if a large portion of the spectators invades the pitch simultaneously outside of playing time.
American football
A pitch invasion is common in college and high school football when a team pulls off a major upset, defeats a major rival, ends a long losing streak, or notches a history-making win. With the widespread advent of artificial turf, some schools have become more lenient about students storming the field. Goalposts are also taken down within moments of the end of the game as a cautionary measure to prevent fans from climbing atop them to cause damage to the standard holding them up, damage to television camera equipment on the posts, and spectator injury. In the National Football League, rushing the field usually results in a lifetime revocation of season tickets, even if given or sold to another person, along with a lifetime trespassing notice banning the rusher from the team and/or stadium property, or in cases of multiple rushes, other league stadiums.
Incidents
Chicago College All-Star Game (23 July 1976): with 1:22 remaining in the third quarter, the Pittsburgh Steelers led the College All-Stars 24–0 when a torrential rainstorm hit the field which made play impossible. After officials called for a delay, drunk and unruly fans invaded the field and tore down the goalposts. Officials, security, and police attempted to clear the field, but twelve minutes later, NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle and the sponsoring Chicago Tribune announced that the game had been called, which was greeted with jeers, and numerous brawls broke out on the flooded field before order was finally restored. Muscatine High School (8 September 1978): a high school football example, where fans celebrated the end of a long losing streak, as the Muskies had lost 44 consecutive games from 1973 to 1977, including 40 straight league games in the Mississippi Valley Conference. Optimism was high that the Muskies, now members of the newly formed Mississippi Eight Conference, would end their five-year-long losing streak sometime during the 1978 season, but it was in the season opener on the road against Ottumwa that Muscatine won their first game since the 1973 season opener. A touchdown with just over a minute left and a two-point conversion put Muscatine ahead with a 15–12 lead. Ottumwa advanced the ball to the Muskie 33-yard line on the ensuing series, but was intercepted in the Muskie end zone with two seconds left. As soon as time expired, more than 1,000 Muskie fans rushed the field to celebrate its first win in 45 contests; an attempt to tear down the goalposts was not successful.Bates, Roger, "Thank God it's over!" Muscatine Journal, 9 September 1978. Buffalo Bills v Miami Dolphins (7 September 1980, NFL): the Bills broke a 20-game losing streak against their division rival, the Dolphins, on this day, prompting the 79,000 fans in attendance at Rich Stadium to storm the field and tear down the stadium's goalposts. California v Stanford (20 November 1982, Pacific-10 football): in the final seconds of the 1982 Big Game against the University of California, Berkeley (Cal), Stanford Band members and Stanford players ran out onto the field, thinking the game was over. Cal players lateralled the kickoff back and forth, with Cal's Kevin Moen dodging through the band for a winning touchdown, which he ended by running over trombone player Gary Tyrrell in the end zone. "The Play" is celebrated by Cal fans and inspires the ire of many Stanford fans. To this day, it remains one of the most famous plays in American football history. (The game does not end until the last play ends, even if the game clock runs out of time while the last play is still in progress. A penalty was called as a result of "The Play", but it was only because the spectators and band members had crowded onto the field while the game was in progress.) Philadelphia Stars v Michigan Panthers (17 July 1983, USFL football) USFL Championship Game: after dropping four out of five games to start their first season in the new league, Michigan acquired some NFL veterans to finish the year 12-6 and vaulted over the Oakland Invaders in the single-tier playoffs. In front of a crowd of 46,565 paid attendees at Mile High Stadium in Denver, the Panthers' late drive for a touchdown moved victory out of reach for the Stars, beating them 24–22. Despite the neutral ground afforded by a Super Bowl-style championship where the venue is selected in advance of the playoffs, several hundred Michigan fans stormed the field and congregated in the area of the south stands and south goalpost. Fans briefly mounted the goalpost, nearly breaking it down, and missiles, notably bottles, were hurled by fans at Denver Police, who responded with K-9 enforcement, mace and batons. In the melee, 12 fans were arrested by police, half from Michigan. Kentucky v LSU (9 November 2002, SEC football): Kentucky looked as if they would pull off a home upset of the Tigers when they held a 30–27 lead with two seconds left and LSU with the ball at their own 26-yard line. As quarterback Marcus Randall heaved a Hail Mary pass downfield, fans rushed onto the edges of the field ready to celebrate Kentucky's victory; however, the pass was deflected off two Wildcat defenders and into the hands of LSU wide receiver Devery Henderson, who was able to run into the end zone to cap a 33–30 win for LSU and leaving the fans on the field stunned at the turn of events. The play would come to be known as the Bluegrass Miracle. Five years later, at the same stadium, Wildcats fans invaded the field after avenging the loss with a thrilling triple-overtime win, and the school was fined $50,000 for a third violation of the conference's policy prohibiting field storming (see below). Texas Tech v Texas (2 November 2008): Texas Tech fans invaded the Jones AT&T Stadium turf three times during the final moments of the game. The first happened after Michael Crabtree caught a touchdown pass from Graham Harrell with one second to go: overjoyed fans, thinking the game was over and the Red Raiders had upset No. 1-ranked Texas, spilt out onto the field, doing so again after the replay official announced that Crabtree had indeed stayed inbounds the moment before crossing the goal line. Tech was assessed two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties for this, forcing them to kick off from the 7-and-a-half yard line. After the ball was recovered by Tech, the game ended and the fans stormed the field one final time without penalty. Auburn v Alabama (30 November 2013): Auburn University faced off against their arch-rivals, the University of Alabama in their annual rivalry game, popularly known as the Iron Bowl. Alabama entered the season ranked No. 1 after winning two consecutive BCS National Championships. Auburn had begun the season unranked but had moved up to No. 4 in the rankings, marking the second time both teams were ranked in the Top 5 of the BCS rankings. The winner of the game would earn the right to play in the SEC Championship Game. With one second left on the clock and the score tied, Alabama elected to attempt a 57-yard field goal. The kick was short and Auburn defender Chris Davis fielded it from nine yards deep in his own end zone. He returned the kick all the way to the Alabama end zone, scoring the game-winning touchdown, in a play known as the Kick Six. In spite of the SEC's penalties for rushing the field, thousands of Auburn fans (mainly students) flooded the field in delight at earning a spot in the SEC Championship game, as well as ending arch-rival Alabama's national title hopes. Following the game, the Auburn grounds crew discovered that among the debris left on the field was a pile of cremains on the Auburn sideline, assumed to be placed there by a fan honoring a deceased relation's request to have his ashes scattered on the field. (Traditionally, sports teams rarely permit "burials" on their fields in order to protect the health of the turf: if so, it is almost always an important club figure whose remains are scattered, or are properly buried and interred below the turf during a maintenance period.) Florida State v Virginia (26 September 2025): Virginia fans raided the Scott Stadium field after the Cavaliers upset the eighth-ranked Seminoles in double overtime, 46–38.
Southeastern Conference penalties Section 10.5 of the Southeastern Conference By-Laws has a progressive fine policy adopted in 2004 for major sports: $5,000 for the first offense, $25,000 for the second offense, and $50,000 for third and subsequent offenses within a three-year period of the last field storming. In May 2015, the fines increased to $50,000; $100,000; and $250,000 for the first, second, and third plus subsequent offenses, respectively, with a period for past violations being increased from three years to five. In 2023, the fines were respectively further increased to $100,000; $250,000; and $500,000 and changed so the fine would be paid to the opposing institution for conference games (nonconference games continued to have the fine paid to the SEC's scholarship fund), with each team also being given a clean slate. Since 2025, SEC schools are fined $500,000 for every field- or court-storming offense.
For an upset situation, the fine (which in college sports is usually a donation to a conference's scholarship fund rather than a punitive payment, as is the course for the SEC) is generally taken as a "badge of honor" by the school and its fanbase that knows the cost of storming well in advance, and fans and the school's booster club proudly donate the funds to a school's athletic department needed to pay the fine, along with the secondary cost for the replacement of damaged or removed goalposts. The Kentucky Wildcats were hit with "the triple" for three football field stormings within eleven months, involving upset wins against league powers and an in-state rival: On 4 November 2006, the team was fined $5,000 for a field invasion after a football win against Georgia. On 15 September 2007, the team was fined $25,000 for a storming after a football non-conference win against archrival Louisville. On 13 October 2007, the team was fined $50,000 for a field rush after a triple-overtime football win against top-ranked LSU.