Furious fans, peeved parents and side gigs: Why would anyone want to be a ref?

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  Cesar HernandezSep 16, 2026, 10:26 AM ET

If there's one thing that soccer supporters agree on, it's hating on referees.

From the youth level to the professional ranks, it isn't out of the ordinary for fans to voice their displeasure with jeers and taunts aimed at match officials. Over the weekend, the ever-present and ubiquitous "ref, you suck" chant was heard in MLS stadiums. A cacophony of vitriol has been directed at the profession from the red half of Manchester after the Premier League's referees' body admitted that Manchester City's lone goal in their 1-0 win over Manchester United shouldn't have stood.

Officials, tasked with regulating the 90 minutes, are well aware that this isn't the first or last time they'll be the target of angry fans. And that confuses MLS referee Nick Balcer.

"I wish people could see the game through our lens," he said to ESPN. "This game continues to get faster, these players continue to get better, more technical. The margins -- when you see offside runs and penalty kicks and everything like that -- are so slim, and it's just going to continue to get slimmer.

"It's truly incredible to watch because it's an art form. Refereeing is an art form."

Although they don't have the same spotlight as players, officials work just as hard as the superstars with whom they share the pitch.

Needing to combine high levels of mental and physical performance, referees make split-second decisions while keeping pace with the players themselves. On average in MLS, a referee covers about 6.2 miles. Knowing full well that they won't be the focus of adoration for supporters, referees carry on as stewards for the beautiful game.

Angry parents and the love of the game

"Thirteen, fourteen [years old], and you get some side cash, some money," said MLS referee Lorenzo Hernandez with a laugh about his early forays into refereeing. "Doing things on my own."

Inspired by his father who was also an official, Hernandez recognized that there was another avenue into soccer through becoming a referee. The same could be said for Balcer who, like Hernandez, found a passion in officiating after learning he could become certified for youth games when he was 12.

"I had some fun with it. I'd make some cash. I thought it was cool that I could come home on a Saturday and my mom would bring me to the park and stick around, be there for three hours, and I'd come home with 60 bucks," Balcer said. "This is an income, but also something I love doing ... I love doing this. I'm having fun doing this."

Of course, doing so meant dealing with the aggravations of parents despite so many of these officials being kids themselves. Balcer learned early on that this line of work wasn't for the fainthearted. "Well, this kind of stinks," he remembers thinking after parents accosted him.

Unsurprisingly, these actions are nothing new. In a 2017 survey from the National Association of Sports Officials, the behavior of adults at youth games led to more than 75% of high school referees quitting. In that same survey, 80% of new officials stopped after only two years in youth sports. Regardless, Balcer's curiosity in soccer kept pulling him to the field. The oldest of five siblings, he soon learned to not let any comments get to him.

"Like water off a duck's back," he said. "It just didn't bother me."

What also helped is having guidance at a young age. In the same manner that one-day professional players have adults shaping their talents within youth academies, the assistance of older referees is invaluable for the next generation of officials.

"I think that support enables you and allows you to feel more comfortable in situations like that," Hernandez said when asked if he had any difficulties with parents at the youth level. "Understanding that at the same time, that does come with what we do."

Side gigs and rooting for refs

According to Hernandez, the starting salary for full-time referees within MLS is $85,000. On top of that, they get benefits like healthcare coverage. According to The Athletic, some officials can make as much as $165,000 annually in the league, compared to a range of roughly $100,000 to $200,000 in the Premier League.

"It is something that you definitely can live off of," Hernandez said. But that doesn't mean the ref you're watching every weekend doesn't also have a side hustle -- whether it's for fun or out of necessity.

"I have a remodeling business as well that I manage throughout the week," said Hernandez, who was the fourth referee during D.C. United vs. Atlanta United on Saturday.

As for Balcer, who is part-time and was involved in Columbus Crew vs. Red Bull New York on Saturday, his nine-to-five is fundraising for a small college. That job is flexible enough to allow him to travel to games, meaning that days after watching a dramatic 89th-minute winner from Ronald Donkor, he's back to fundraising and 12-16 hours of solo physical fitness per week.

For full-timers, there's even more work to be done. In total, there are 30 center referees across MLS that have to attend a monthly training camp held in Dallas. "Four days, pretty much every month out of the year," said Tom Beckvermit, director of sports performance at the Professional Referee Organization (PRO). "It's a combination of referee education and physical preparation."

Back at home, the education doesn't stop. As opposed to the way a supporter watches a game in their free time, officials tend to take a different approach.

"I've grown immune to watching it from a fan's perspective," said Hernandez, who tries to analyze at least one match per day. "You just look at the good that the referee does and look at situations that you maybe think that you could do better ... we have to understand that no game is going to be a perfect game for any of us. You have to anticipate and know that you're going to make a mistake, but I think exposure and repetition is really what makes you better."

Balcer does something similar. In fact, he tends to find himself not backing a team or a player while watching, but instead a fellow official.

"I'm very much looking for patterns of play. I'm looking at what the referee is doing ... we've got a through ball, a long ball, and I'm thinking to myself, 'Oh, that's a close decision. What's the assistant referee looking at? Where is he positioned?'" he said. "I'm looking at it through the lens of a referee, or at least watching colleagues that are out there. I'm definitely rooting for them because obviously I want to see my colleagues succeed."

'I feel most at peace when I'm out on the field'

MLS, and soccer in general, needs more people like Hernandez and Balcer.

In Europe, a head of referees in 2023 once noted that there was a "vocational crisis" when it came to his line of work. In 2022, there was an article from The Guardian that noted how "U.S. referee numbers are plunging." At the youth level, a blog from a clearly flustered parent began with: "Last weekend, my son's soccer game almost didn't happen. The refs didn't show up."

"In my opinion, with the amount of leagues that pop up, with the amount of games, with the professional game growing in the United States, there's a huge gap," said Beckvermit when asked if there's a lack of soccer officials. "It's a problem that stems down all the way to the grassroots."

Balcer felt similarly. "There is a referee shortage in all sports across the board throughout the United States and around the world, it's not just a soccer-specific thing," he said. "You can still stay involved in the game at a level by refereeing because we always need referees."

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Although the negativities draw headlines, everyone who spoke to ESPN for this piece made a point to highlight the fulfilling nature of the work. "It's not just people who show up on the weekends and get s--- on by fans all the time," Beckvermit said. "There's some positives to this as well."

From Hernandez's perspective, it's a liberating and thrilling career that he genuinely looks forward to each day. "It's never boring," he stated. "It's very flowing and it's I think freeing for me. It's one of those things where I truly enjoy and I feel most at peace when I'm out on the field."

And while referees will never be the protagonists on the pitch, that's not to say that they're not in demand. After MLS games, it isn't out of the ordinary for kids to yell -- and not in a harassing manner -- for the attention of officials.

"A lot of these kids are like, 'Referee, can I get your yellow card? Can I get your red card?' Really, it's a thing every single game to the point where I'm having to take stacks of cards, and I'm like, 'Hey, I'll be back. I'll come back out,' and you know they're wanting you to sign," Hernandez said with a chuckle. "They're wanting to take pictures."

Added Balcer: "People think it's so cool that I get to be on the field with [Lionel] Messi. They think you're cool now as a referee."