The National Football League moved to fine Carolina Panthers chairman David Tepper on Tuesday following an incident on New Year’s Eve.
NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported on the fine, which was worth $300,000.
“The National Football League today fined Carolina Panthers’ chairman David Tepper $300,000 for his unacceptable conduct in Jacksonville during Sunday’s game,” Pelissero posted. Pelissero broke the news on X, the popular website formerly known as Twitter.
Tepper traveled with the Panthers to their game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. While he was there, he got into an incident that a fan recorded on their cell phone. Tepper appeared to throw a drink on a Jaguars fan who was seated outside of the luxury box the Panthers’ chairman stood in.
After he appeared to toss the drink on a fan, Tepper left the scene. There was a lot of silence on the issue since it happened but obviously, the NFL had indeed focused on it.
But the resulting fine comes up very short. A six-figure reprimand for a billionaire is basically a drop in the bucket. It feels like there should have been a heavier fine to deter behavior. Whether that’s something that needs to be collectively bargained is unknown, but several voiced their unhappiness over the decision after it was made.
The NFL world reacted to the news.
$300k is a legit insulting fine for this guy. You have to either do nothing or start in the eight figures if you want to look sincere https://t.co/2qDKXB8LMP
— Alex Kirshner (@alex_kirshner) January 2, 2024
https://twitter.com/jtwashin/status/1742323226787631190
About Chris Novak
Chris Novak has been talking and writing about sports ever since he can remember. Previously, Novak wrote for and managed sites in the SB Nation network for nearly a decade from 2013-2022