Dierks, Arkansas has fewer than 900 residents, but it just proved that population size means nothing when a whole town rallies behind something, in this case, a $1 million high school football field upgrade from T-Mobile.

As announced by T-Mobile, Dierks High School won last year’s Friday Night 5G Lights, T-Mobile’s annual competition that awards a $1 million field upgrade to one high school chosen by public vote, beating out more than 2,100 schools nationwide with nearly 2 million votes. 

The campaign started small, with Booster Club member Krystal Greene texting her sister a photo of a TV segment about the contest, but it eventually pulled in support from Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, NFL and NASCAR accounts, and even a rival school that ran Dierks’ voting QR code on its own jumbotron. The team’s home field, known locally as “the Holler,” had grass that sloped from end to end and bleachers untouched since the 1980s before the win.

Less than a year later, the Holler has an NFL-grade turf field, upgraded visitor bleachers, a renovated concession area, and a Gronk Fitness weight room buildout, all set for a community reveal on September 18. Four-time Super Bowl champion Rob Gronkowski, who serves as a Friday Night 5G Lights ambassador, visited Dierks for a celebration alongside country singer Bailey Zimmerman after the win was announced. 

T-Mobile’s third annual Friday Night 5G Lights competition is now underway with more than $8.4 million in prizes on the line, including 1,000 $5K Friday winners and another $1 million grand prize field upgrade, with applications open until September 18 and voting starting October 8.

Source: T-Mobile