We have a winner: see who won T-Mobile's $1 million prize

T-Mobile's Friday Night 5G Lights is officially over and that means we've got a winner! The Magenta carrier's $1 million prize goes to Wisconsin's Menasha High School.

There were almost 2,500 applications and more than 3.2 million total votes cast this time around. This is the third edition of Friday Night 5G Lights.

T-Mobile's program provided more than $8.4 million in total prizes. This year alone, a thousand US schools were awarded $5,000 through $5K Fridays, 40 Division Finalists earned $25,000 (each), and the four Division Champions took home a combined $1 million. But the big winner is the Menasha High School.

What will they do with a million dollars?

The big $1 million prize will go toward a football field makeover and the plan is the renovations to be complete for the 2027 football season. The Menasha High School enjoys a total winnings of over $1.3 million, as there's also a Gronk Fitness gym upgrade (valued at $90,000) and additional prizes.

The school managed to win the big prize with 390,517 votes in the final round and joined the 2024 winner Inola High School (Oklahoma) and the 2025 winner Dierks High School (Arkansas).

Jeramie Korth, the Menasha High School's Head Football Coach, takes the opportunity to express deep gratitude to "our students, athletes, faculty, staff, alumni, the Menasha community, and people across Wisconsin who came together to vote for Menasha—thank you"

The tragedy before the triumph

Probably, this isn't the first time you're hearing of Menasha this year. Back on July 27, there was a severe tornado that left a trail of destruction behind it. Among the damaged buildings was the Calder Stadium, home to the Menasha Bluejays. Like similar small-town stadiums, this is more than a sports field but a place where families, friends and neighbors gathered and socialized together.

Following the tornado, Menasha's football team helped clean up Calder Stadium before heading into the community to assist local families and businesses with recovery efforts. Their neighbors later returned the favor, with more than 400 businesses lighting up in magenta and using social media to rally votes for the Bluejays.

Patrick Mahomes, a three-time Super Bowl MVP and ambassador for Friday Night 5G Lights, congratulated the Bluejays for their resilience and ability to turn a difficult year into motivation.



But there's one more important award: the Team Magenta Fan Favorite prize. This one goes to the Baldwin High School Bulldogs from Baldwin City, Kansas with a total winnings of $55,000.