A Tornado Took Menasha's Stadium in July. The Bluejays Just Won T-Mobile's $1 Million Field Makeover With 390,517 Votes, Twice the Runner-Up

A Tornado Took Menasha's Stadium in July. The Bluejays Just Won T-Mobile's $1 Million Field Makeover With 390,517 Votes, Twice the Runner-Up

Menasha High School in Wisconsin won T-Mobile's Friday Night 5G Lights grand prize. The Bluejays played all season at Lawrence University after a July 27 tornado damaged Calder Stadium.

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Menasha High School did not play a home football game this fall. A tornado on July 27 tore up the lights and bleachers at Calder Stadium, and the Bluejays spent the season at Lawrence University in Appleton. On Thursday the Wisconsin school found out it is getting a new field, paid for by a phone company.

Menasha won the $1 million grand prize in T-Mobile's Friday Night 5G Lights contest with 390,517 votes in the final round, WBAY reported. That was more than twice the total of any other finalist.

Friday Night 5G Lights Final Vote: Menasha 390,517, Lakeside 194,316

Four regional champions reached the final. Lakeside High School of Nine Mile Falls, Washington, finished second with 194,316 votes. Buffalo Gap High School of Swoope, Virginia, had 165,533, and Covington High School in Louisiana had 142,273.

Menasha had been in last place in its division round before the town got involved. More than 400 local businesses backed the campaign, according to WBAY. The winner was revealed in a video featuring Patrick Mahomes and Rob Gronkowski.

Menasha's Total Haul Is $1.37 Million

The grand prize sits on top of what the school had already won along the way: $250,000 as a division champion, a $90,000 weight room upgrade, $25,000 as a division finalist and a $5,000 student leadership award. T-Mobile's announcement, published by High School Football America, put the total at $1.37 million.

The company said more than 2,400 schools applied this year, 40 became division finalists, and fans cast more than 3.2 million votes. It has now handed out more than $16 million over three years of the program, $8.4 million of it in 2026. The earlier winners were Inola High School in Oklahoma and Dierks High School in Arkansas.

Head coach Jeramie Korth told WBAY, "We are proud to have shown the world what it means to be a Menasha Bluejay."

Calder Stadium Upgrades Are Due During the 2027 Season

T-Mobile plans a celebration in Menasha in December, and the rebuilt field is scheduled to be unveiled during the 2027 season. FOX 11 has more on the stadium damage. More prep coverage is on the BallerTube high school football page.