How does a town of fewer than 2,000 people and a school of 400 students come together to win a nationwide social media competition to the tune of 6,142 votes? With help from the likes of actress Jennifer Garner and the whole state of Oklahoma.
The Inola High School football team pulled themselves up by their bootstraps to compete with 1,700 schools from across the country in the T-Mobile Friday Night 5G Lights competition. At the end of the voting period, the Longhorns stampeded to victory, winning a multimillion-dollar grand prize that will see the school’s outdated football facilities completely renovated.
“Ultimately the grand prize winner was selected based on who got the most likes for their hype video on Instagram,” says Kaley Gagnon, vice president of marketing at T-Mobile. “They attracted attention from celebrities with really big platforms across social media, like actress Jennifer Garner, but they also got their entire community and student body involved in driving grassroots efforts.
“The students set up a telethon where they personally called every school district in the state,” Gagnon adds. “They contacted 1,700 schools, 1,800 principals and over 500 superintendents.”
In the winning Instagram post, several Inola High School football players walk through the football field, and the video frame is surrounded by gameday photos and school mascot illustrations. The teenagers crack jokes about the field having been there “since the 1900s” and the technology dating back to dial-up internet.
“They have really been looking to rejuvenate their football program,” Gagnon says. “It needs a lot of work. They’ve got torn-up turf, a broken sound system, an old scoreboard, and I think the equipment from the weight room goes back to the ’80s.”
But now, Inola is winning a $100,000 cash grant, a brand new scoreboard, a renovated weight room courtesy of Gronk Fitness and a T-Mobile 5G network to upgrade the stadium’s technology. T-Mobile will also throw the school an “Ultimate Tailgate Party” when Inola unveils all of the upgrades at the start of the 2025 football season.
T-Mobile teamed up with iconic football star Rob “Gronk” Gronkowski for the weight room renovation piece of the grand prize. “So many schools that are fans of Rob applied because they saw him post about the contest on his social media channels,” Gagnon says.
“Rob has a passion for high school football, and Gronk Fitness fit naturally into what we were trying to accomplish.”
T-Mobile first envisioned the Friday Night 5G Lights competition as a way to reinforce its commitment to rural America. Gagnon explains that the comapny saw the impact that high school football has on small communities and wanted to give those teams and towns a platform.
“All of us have these great stories to share about our high school football experience, coming together on Friday night for football games,” she says. “It showcases these small towns that are deeply involved in community events. They see thousands of people come out every Friday night to celebrate the students at the school. We knew that this kind of program could really amplify that celebration.”
And the celebration will keep on rolling in 2025, as T-Mobile plans to bring the competition back for a second year. High schools that think they have what it takes to drum up social media interest in their football facilities can preregister now on the T-Mobile Friday Night 5G Lights website for a chance to win their own football facility renovation, 5G technology upgrade and Gronk Fitness weight room.
Says Gagnon, “Our hope is that schools will use the grants given through this program to make an impact on their community.”
