Texas Rangers Listen To Their Fans, Remain Only MLB Team Without Pride Night

They are — quite literally — the Lone Rangers.

While other MLB teams drape their stadiums in the rainbow flag each June, the Rangers stick with the one-star, Texas banner. They are the only team in baseball that doesn't host an LGBTQ Pride Night.

Baseball's Pride tradition began with the Chicago Cubs back in 2001. And since then, 28 other teams followed suit.

(Photo by Bailey Orr/Texas Rangers/Getty Images)

The Rangers actually attempted to host an informal Pride Night in 2003. Without officially marketing the event, they invited several LGBT groups to the stadium. But after fans expressed concern, they decided to scrap the idea altogether.

So instead of painting rainbows all over everything, the Rangers committed to giving back to the community in other ways.

That includes sponsorship of the NAGAAA Gay Softball World Series in 2022 and the development of an inclusion and community impact council. The franchise also works with advocacy groups like the Resource Center in Dallas and the Pegasus Slow-Pitch Softball Association.

"I think that's more meaningful than just saying, 'OK, we had a Pride Night,'" Rangers COO Neil Leibman told The Dallas Morning News in 2020.

The Cincinnati Reds host Pride Community Night at Great American Ball Park. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)

Celebrate Baseball, Not Sex

There's something to be said about "rainbow capitalism." That's the commercialization of LGBTQ causes and — in a sense — the exploitation of the gay community in order to turn a profit.

We can change our social media logo and pretend we've done something noble. Plus, new rainbow jerseys and gay pride merch mean more sales. All cloaked in the righteous veil of social justice.

But people come to the ballpark to watch a baseball game. So the Rangers' strategy is to focus on that fan experience.

"Our commitment is to make everyone feel welcome and included in Rangers baseball. That means in our ballpark, at every game, and in all we do — for both our fans and our employees," the Rangers said in a statement. "We deliver on that promise across our many programs to have a positive impact across our entire community."

(Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)

We saw what happened when the Los Angeles Dodgers hosted the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence — an outlandish drag nun group that mocks Catholicism. Not only did they piss off their fans (and many baseball players), but they also lost tens of thousands in revenue.

And for what? To endear themselves to the far left, alienate a majority of their actual fanbase, and pat themselves on the back for a virtue-signaling job well done.

"People just want to watch baseball," Brady Gray, a board member for Texas Family Project said. "To the vast majority of fans, Rangers' decision to buck the trend of celebrating sexuality is a breath of fresh air."

So, of course, baseball is for everyone.

But the Rangers understand fans go to the ballpark to celebrate their favorite team — not whoever you're sleeping with.