About

The Tarps Off Trend is a live sports trend in which a group of fans at a stadium remove their shirts and wave them above their heads in a circular motion, similar to "rally towels," to hype up their teams and get rowdy. The trend is typically performed by men going shirtless and twirling their shirts over their heads, but is also sometimes performed by women and other attendees without going shirtless by using another piece of clothing. "Tarp" is a slang term for "shirt," and the expression "tarps off" or "tarp off" is also used outside of the trend to refer to going shirtless.

The phenomenon originally garnered virality in October 2025 when an Oklahoma State football fan removed his shirt and waved it above his head after making a bet during a game. Videos of the fan celebrating in contrast to an otherwise subdued crowd went viral online, establishing the shirtless display as it later spread to other college football games and sporting events in the following months.

The trend saw a significant resurgence during the summer of 2026 at MLB and baseball games after members of the Stephen F. Austin State University baseball team attended a St. Louis Cardinals game at Busch Stadium, where they removed their shirts in an attempt to energize the crowd during a comeback. Following the Cardinals' walk-off victory, videos of the celebration went viral, leading the team to officially designate a shirt-optional fan section in the upper-right-field bleachers. The trend then continued to spread to other MLB teams and sports.

Origin

According to USA Today,^[1] the "Tarps Off" trend first gained traction in mid-October 2025, when a fan, Trent Eaton, at an Oklahoma State college football game reportedly made a $10 bet to his sister, Callista Bradford, to go into the empty student section and wave his shirt.^[2] After removing his shirt and spinning it above his head, droves of fans joined him and also began performing the same action.

The viral video of the moment that sparked the trend was posted on October 11th, 2025, by TikTok^[3] user ___sarahscott, showing Eaton starting up by himself as he's increasingly joined by other fans at the OSU game. The post garnered over 5.6 million views, 924,100 likes and 4,500 comments in 10 months.

Over the following months, the act began popping up at other college football games, including Wisconsin, UCLA, North Carolina and Virginia Tech.^[1]

In early April 2026, the trend began gaining attention again after fans at a Colorado Rockies game began performing the move in the stands.

For example, on April 8th, 2026, X / Twitter^[4] user LoveTheRox shared a video of numerous fans at a Rockies game going shirtless and spinning them in the air in the stands, receiving over 655,200 views, 6,100 likes and 90 replies in three months.

Idk if I have ever seen so many shirtless guys cheering for the Rockies at the same time before (& the pile keeps growing..) pic.twitter.com/8d3lFIyjm3

— Shannon (@LoveTheRox) April 8, 2026

In the following weeks, the slang "tarps off" became increasingly prevalent online in sports clips of people going shirtless, such as a tweet on April 23rd by the official PGA TOUR Twitter^[5] account showing a video of pro golfer Michael Brennan that was captioned, "Tarps off in New Orleans," garnering over 2.7 million views, 5,400 likes and 230 replies in three months.

Tarps off in New Orleans 😳 pic.twitter.com/qtk9wxgyib

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) April 23, 2026

In May 2026, "tarps off" began cementing itself as a viral trend when members of the Stephen F. Austin State University baseball team removed their shirts and spun them around their heads to rally the crowd during a comeback at a St. Louis Cardinals game.^[7] Following the Cardinals' victory, videos of the celebration went viral online, prompting the team to lean into the phenomenon and later establish an official shirt-optional section in the stands as they became known as the "Tarp Crew."

On May 16th, the official Cardinals Twitter^[6] account tweeted a video of the trend, showing the start of it and then when they invited the Tarp Crew to the locker room to meet the team, garnering over 168,000 views, 5,100 likes and 60 replies in roughly one month.

Bad day to be a shirt!

Oli invited the Tarp Crew down to meet the team! pic.twitter.com/7ZSIVLfLHQ

— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) May 16, 2026

Spread

Throughout the summer of 2026, the trend subsequently spread to other Major League Baseball stadiums, with fans at games involving the Seattle Mariners, Detroit Tigers, Tampa Bay Rays and Kansas City Royals adopting the shirtless cheering tradition.^[7]

On May 18th, 2026, the official MLB X / Twitter^[8] account tweeted about the tarps off trend, showing Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field engaging with the craze and garnering over 404,900 views, 3,000 likes and 120 replies in one month.

Tarps Off is sweeping the nation!

Tonight the craze hits Tropicana Field 🤣 pic.twitter.com/uRXMfjzC9Y

— MLB (@MLB) May 19, 2026

On May 23rd, TikToker^[9] tamarshertv uploaded a video covering the emergence of the trend that month, receiving over 1,910 likes and 20 comments in a month.

On June 3rd, 2026, Instagram^[10] user gagegoulding posted a commentary video explaining the trend after it spread to Astros games, garnering over 2,620 likes in seven weeks.

On July 20th, 2026, TikTok^[11] user _nins___ posted a Women In Male-Dominated Fields meme of her engaging with the trend at a Boston Red Socks game, receiving over 670 likes and 10 comments in three days.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References