We have a champion! After weeks of voting, Menasha High School in Menasha, Wisconsin, has won T-Mobile’s Friday Night 5G Lights and a $1 million football field makeover. If there was ever a school that deserved it, it’s this one.

T-Mobile crowned the Bluejays on November 12. On July 27, a severe tornado tore through Menasha, destroying homes, uprooting trees, and damaging Calder Stadium, where generations of families have gathered on Friday nights. Instead of waiting for help, the football players went to work cleaning up their stadium, then headed into the community to help neighbors and local businesses recover.

Then Wisconsin had their back. More than 400 businesses turned magenta and pushed people to vote every day, and the Bluejays got shout-outs from comedian Charlie Berens and former Green Bay Packer George Koonce. It worked. Menasha pulled in 390,517 votes in the final round, about double second-place Lakeside High School in Washington. “It has lifted our spirits, inspired our recovery, and reminded us of the strength of a community that stands together,” said head coach Jeramie Korth.

With its division prizes added in, Menasha takes home $1.37 million in total, and the new field will be unveiled during the 2027 season. Friday Night 5G Lights ambassadors Patrick Mahomes and Rob Gronkowski also congratulated the team. T-Mobile employees got to pick a winner too: the Baldwin High School Bulldogs from Baldwin City, Kansas, won the Team Magenta Fan Favorite award and an extra $25,000. It’s been a wild ride since we covered the top 40 finalists last month.

This is what makes Friday Night 5G Lights one of the Un-carrier’s best traditions. In three years, T-Mobile has handed out more than $16 million to small-town schools, and this year’s winner shows just how much a community can pull together. Congrats, Menasha! Want your school in the running next year? Sign up for updates at FridayNight5GLights.com.

Source: T-Mobile