Region 16 has proudly supported E-Sports for the past four years, but recent legislative changes, including Governor Abbott’s ban on corporations affiliated with the People’s Republic of China (PRC), require careful consideration as we plan for the future.
After extensive research on these companies and legislation, many of the games associated with E-Sports tournaments are affiliated with a company or companies listed on the prohibited list from Governor Abbott’s Order. It is the opinion of Region 16 that districts should focus on the artificial intelligence competition, robotics, or maker spaces to ensure continued engagement with students through technology and STEM, and remain in compliance with legal requirements.
Government Code Chapter 620: Prohibited Technologies
This is a cybersecurity measure that also incorporates Governor Abbott’s Order against TikTok. This Order and Legislation ban the use of technologies and software from specific companies deemed a security risk on any state-owned network or device. This includes public school districts. Most notably, this list includes Tencent Holdings Ltd. and ByteDance, a Chinese company with major ownership stakes in many popular E-Sports games. The included games are Rocket League, Valorant, and League of Legends.
This Code directly impacts school-sponsored E-Sports programs by legally preventing them from using these games on district networks (even if student-owned devices are used) and on school-owned devices. There are very few games not on this list that would be allowable
House Bill 1481: Personal Device Ban
The 89th Legislative Session passed this bill that prohibits students' use of personal communication devices during the school day. While this law targets student-owned devices, not school-sanctioned programs, many districts do not own Nintendo devices , which would be necessary to play the games that are allowed. This would rely on students bringing their devices to school and any practices scheduled for outside the school day.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us.