Ken Paxton’s office drops lawsuit accusing NCAA of deceptive marketing of women’s sports

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has dropped a lawsuit that accused the NCAA of misleading college sports fans by allowing transgender athletes to participate in events marketed as women’s competitions.

The lawsuit, filed in December 2024, said the NCAA falsely marketed events as women’s athletics in violation of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act.

“Radical ‘gender theory’ has no place in college sports,” Paxton said in a 2024 news release announcing the lawsuit.

The attorney general’s office Thursday informed the state district court in Lubbock that it will not proceed with the lawsuit. The court filing was first reported by Bloomberg Law.

In a statement after the lawsuit was filed, the NCAA did not address the allegations but said it would continue to support women’s sports.

The attorney general’s office and the NCAA did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday.

Paxton’s office has dropped at least two other lawsuits since the Nov. 3 election when Paxton lost his bid for the U.S. Senate and Democrat Nathan Johnson defeated Republican Mayes Middleton to become the next attorney general. Johnson has said he intends to review Paxton-era lawsuits and halt action on those deemed political in nature.

Earlier this week, Paxton’s office dropped a lawsuit seeking to shut down FIEL, a Houston immigrant-rights organization the state had accused of violating nonprofit restrictions by criticizing the immigration policies of President Donald Trump and Gov. Greg Abbott.

Paxton’s office cited social media posts encouraging people to vote against Trump’s immigration proposals. The group opposed a 2023 Texas law that let Texas police arrest people suspected of having entered the country illegally.

The office also dropped a lawsuit seeking to shut down Annunciation House, an El Paso migrant shelter that Paxton accused of illegally harboring undocumented immigrants.

“It’s very gratifying that this has now ended. It’s over,” Ruben Garcia, founder and executive director of Annunciation House, told El Paso Matters.

Republican messaging during the midterm elections was sharply focused on transgender people, particularly regarding youth and sports. It was also a topic that Johnson and Middleton frequently clashed over on the campaign trail and dates back to their days in the Texas senate together.

Johnson singled out the 2025 “bathroom bill,” penned by Middleton, as one he would not devote resources to enforcing as attorney general.