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A Look at Texas’ New Sports Fan Ejection Law

By LONNIE KING | © 2025, Big Daddy’s Texas Sports

I don’t hide my feelings about Governor Greg Abbott.

Time and again, I’ve criticized the way he’s governed this state—prioritizing culture-war battles over real solutions, passing laws that harm everyday Texans more than they help, and leaving behind a trail of mismanagement.

But every now and then, even a broken clock is right twice a day.

The recently passed law that Abbott recently signed-off on allows referees and officials at school sporting events to eject unruly fans without warning.

And I have to admit: it seems, at least on its face, like a step in the right direction.

Why This Law Exists

Sports officials in Texas (and across the country) have been dealing with increasingly hostile crowds. Verbal abuse, slurs, even the occasional physical threat—it’s no wonder so many referees are walking away from the job.

The UIL and other school sports bodies are already facing an officiating shortage, and without officials, games don’t happen. So giving referees more authority to immediately remove disruptive spectators makes sense.

If someone is harassing a teenage athlete, or screaming at a high school umpire, or throwing out racial taunts from the stands, they shouldn’t get the benefit of a polite warning.

They should be gone.

The Complications

But here’s where it could get a little messy: laws are only as good as their enforcement. And in this case, enforcement is left largely in the hands of local officials, administrators, and school districts.

That’s where bias can creep in.

Take a recent example from Fort Worth. At a game played at Farrington Field, Arlington Heights students shouted racial slurs at Hispanic North Side cheerleaders. None of them were removed from the stadium.

Instead, the fallout came later, when a letter-writing campaign demanded that Fort Worth ISD hold those students accountable.

It’s hard not to ask: what gave those Arlington Heights hecklers the boldness to do that in the first place? Were they kids filled with youthful arrogance, or does it reflect a deeper culture of racism that lingers in certain neighborhoods?

And even if stadium officials were personally disgusted by the heckling, were they afraid of the larger crowd turning on them if they had acted decisively and removed the offenders?

That’s exactly the risk of leaving so much discretion at the local level. A law that’s supposed to protect players and cheerleaders and officials from abuse is only as good as the people applying it.

If those people are indifferent, fearful, or complicit in the culture that fuels the abuse, then the law becomes meaningless.

The Balance We Need

That’s the tension here. On one hand, this law addresses a real and serious problem: the abuse of officials and players by fans who think their ticket to a Friday night game gives them license to act like bullies. On the other hand, the law’s success depends entirely on who’s enforcing it and what biases they bring with them.

I believe referees need more protection and more authority. But I also believe schools and districts need clear, transparent guidelines—and accountability—so that enforcement doesn’t become arbitrary or prejudiced.

Otherwise, what could have been one of the rare good moves from this administration may end up just another unevenly applied policy that protects some while leaving others vulnerable.

Did It Go Far Enough?

And here’s one last thought: maybe this is a good thing, but it didn’t go far enough. Maybe the acts of the fans in the stands should cost the team on the field.

If the real goal is to deter ugly fan behavior, maybe the UIL should go beyond ejections and institute a rule that any such conduct by a team’s fans results in an automatic forfeiture of the game.

I know that’s strident on the surface. I know that most people would respond, “But you can’t penalize the ‘community’ over the actions of a few bad actors who live within it.”

But I’d counter that’s exactly the punitive way this governor responds in many other areas of the law.

Besides, imagine the message that would send—costing your school a victory on the field because of how your fans behaved in the stands. That might be the strongest deterrent of all.

Final Thought

I’ll give credit where it’s due: Abbott and company may have stumbled into a good idea here.

But like most things under this administration, the real question is whether it will be implemented in a way that serves all Texans fairly—or just paper over the problem while perpetuating the same old inequities.