South Texas Officials Unveil Nation's Largest High School Jumbotron Valued At $1.35M (SEE)

SEGUIN, TX — If you've ever doubted the allure of high school football in Texas, consider the town of Seguin, where officials recently unveiled the nation's largest high school Jumbotron screen costing $1.35 million.

The state-of-the-art monstrosity was unveiled during a Friday night game between Seguin High School and its crosstown rival Boerne-Champion. As reported by local media outlets, the 1,403-foot scoreboard features a 10-foot-by-19-foot scoreboard facing the tailgate area of the stadium. All told, the feature encompasses 1,509 square feet of space.

“You can do without all of it, but this is something that I think our kids can really use and I think that it gives them an opportunity and an edge with regards to educational opportunities,” Seguin Superintendent Stetson Roane told KSAT. “I am saying 100 percent the district can afford this.”

Earlier this month, school officials touted the enormous scorecard at its unveiling, sans irony or the tactics of humility:

Some context: The county seat of Guadalupe County, the town of Seguin on the northern edge of the South Texas plains, has a population of a mere 26,272 residents, give or take a few. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, some 22.3 percent of the town's residents live below the poverty line.

Roane told the news station the district is able to recoup the costs of the contraption through marketing, likely in the form of corporate sponsorship on its space. Short of that, funds could be raised through public funding sources or donations, he told KSAT.

Since its installation, the enormous screen has become the favored backdrop for post-victory team photos, its considerable glow all but obscuring players posing in front of it.

The hysteria for the Friday Night Lights of high school football isn't isolated to South Texas. In the town of McKinney in North Texas, school officials recently approved construction of a $63 million stadium for its high school players.

A full 62 percent of voters there approved a $220 million bond program on Saturday that included more than $50 million for a new 12,000-seat high school stadium and event center for the McKinney Independent School District, located about 30 miles outside of Dallas.

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