Project location: Across the United States · Project context: 2024 · Prepared by POPUP from the project archive in October 2026.
Friday Night 5G Lights brought T-Mobile into school communities with different stories and reasons to rally. The live game-night experience needed a consistent brand presence and a place for local school spirit.
How can a national brand program reflect each local community?
Friday-night football is a gathering place for a community. The 16 finalist schools brought different hopes to the competition: Paradise was rebuilding after the Camp Fire, Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf wanted a more accessible stadium, and Inola hoped to replace aging facilities. Each celebration needed to belong to its school.
Bring a repeatable experience to each home game; games for families, recognizable magenta touchpoints, giveaways and a moment to recognize the school’s grant; then let local traditions shape the night.
Give every fan a way in
Branded games and giveaways extended the experience beyond the field. At Hughson, families could take part together, making the activation part of their night at the game.
Let school spirit lead
The program found a different expression in every community. At Ridgeview, students wore Friday Night 5G Lights shirts as part of their school-spirit celebration, weaving the brand into an existing local tradition.
Make the support visible
T-Mobile awarded each finalist a $25,000 grant and a home-game celebration. At Hughson, the presentation brought school representatives, cheerleaders, the mascot and the brand together on the field.
The planning lesson
Define what travels across the program, then reserve room for the community's own story. Teams need a common production plan and a local briefing. The experience should feel recognizable as the campaign and recognizable to the people hosting it.
Who delivered the experience
As a delivery partner to T-Mobile’s agency of record, POPUP managed on-site execution across the school program, coordinating the activation around each school’s home-game environment.
Friday Night 5G Lights and the school grants are T-Mobile initiatives.
What the experience made possible
School-spirit celebrations connected T-Mobile’s presence with the character and pride of each participating community.
Project questions
Where did the experience take place?
T-Mobile: Across the United States.
What was the delivery scope?
Multi-location coordination; On-site project management; Game-night delivery; Guest experience.
Explore related work
Further reading
For the wider event and campaign context:
