Fines in Sports

It was the semifinals of the US Open Tennis Championship in New York on a September evening and Serena Williams was favored to win her third (out of four) Grand Slam of the year. Williams was serving to stay in the match down 6-5 in the second set and 15-30 in the game when she was called for a foot fault on her second serve. Following some threatening words and pointing her racket toward the lineswoman, Williams was given a point penalty from the tournament referee and the match was over. The next day, Serena was given a maximum on-site fine of $10,000 for the incident. After two months of deliberation, the Grand Slam committee decided to fine Williams $82,500 for her tirade and avoid a suspension from future US Open Tournaments. She was also placed on probation for two years, and if another incident occurred, Williams would be barred from the next US Open and fined $175,000. Mary Carillo, a commentator for tennis on ESPN, believed that Serena should have been suspended from the Double's Final her and her sister Venus Williams went on to win the next day. Williams has since gone on to win the first Grand Slam singles event of 2010 and she is the current number one player in the world, having won 4 out of the last 6 Grand Slam singles championships. Serena and Venus have also won 5 out of the last 7 Grand Slam doubles championships.

Serena Williams' tirade really got me thinking: While Serena's fine reached close to $100,000, what are some other hefty fines given out in the sporting world and what incidents caused those repercussions. I did a little research and found a few interesting fines with some high profile names in sports.

New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick was fined the NFL maximum of $500,000 and the Patriots were fined $250,000 for spying on an opponent's defensive signals in 2007. Many "haters" of the New England organization believe that 'Spygate' (as it was referred to) should negate the three Super Bowls the Patriots won in a four year period (2001, 2003, 2004). However, there is no substantial evidence against the Patriots for using illegal video cameras in those games or at any practices leading up to them.

Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers was fined $25,000 on January 13, 2010 for an argument with officials that led to two technical fouls and one ejection. Glen Davis was given a flagrant foul and Rivers was given technical fouls for his non-stop yelling at the officials as the game went on. Rivers received a call from the NBA the next day saying the officials were mistaken, however he was still given a fine even though he was right. Doc Rivers has been known to receive fines in the past, as he was also ejected in March 2009 against Chicago and given a $25,000 fine. The referee in that incident was also fined for the premature technical fouls.

In 2004, the NBA (National Basketball Association) had $13.9 million in fines assessed from technical fouls, salaries lost from suspension, and verbal abuse to officials. In one game alone between the Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons on November 19, 2004, a minor fight broke out between players on the court. A fan then threw a cup of soda onto Ron Artest (then playing with the Pacers), who entered the crowd and sparked a fight between players and fans. Nine players were suspended for a total of 146 games, leading to $10 million in salary lost (72% of the total amount of fines assessed during season), while fives players were charged with assault and five fans were legally charged.