Jeffrey Reiner, Jason Katims, Adrianne Palicki and Gaius Charles accept the series’ Peabody Award at the Waldorf-Astoria, New York, 4 June 2007. Photo: Peabody Awards. Peabody Awards · CC BY 2.0The Peabody2007
Connie Britton and Kyle Chandler, Coach and Mrs Taylor, at a benefit in Beverly Hills, December 2008. Photo by Kristin Dos Santos. Kristin Dos Santos · CC BY-SA 2.0Britton & Chandler2008
Taylor Kitsch, Tim Riggins, at a premiere in Tempe, Arizona, April 2009. Photo by Grant Brummett. Grant Brummett · CC BY-SA 3.0Taylor Kitsch2009
FridayNightLights
Turn a pennant. Three towns read Dillon on the back. Sort the Panthers
One name · three teams · and the Lions
Three Panthers.
Permian, in Odessa, are the real team from the 1990 book. Dillon is the team made up for television. Pflugerville is a real school whose team is also the Panthers, so its stadium could play Dillon’s in the pilot. And from season four, the coach takes a team that is not Panthers at all. Sort each fact into the right team; every right answer opens the real place.
Pick a card, then pick the team it belongs to.
0 of 12 sorted
The old Del Valle field beside Austin’s airport, September 2026: light towers and an empty frame over grass gone to seed. Photo by Larry D. Moore. Larry D. Moore · CC BY 4.0
PanthersLions
Old Del Valle High School · by Austin’s airport
Two sides.
Seasons one to five: the Dillon Panthers’ field house and practice field.
The football, locker-room and coaches’-office scenes were shot here.
Berms were built beside the bleachers to make it look like Pflugerville’s stadium from the pilot.
The Panther P was on the turf, and was still there in 2011.
Where we read it
The blue and red sides, the berms, the P, the baseball field and its gymnasium front, and the field house in 2011.
The old Del Valle field beside Austin’s airport, September 2026: light towers and an empty frame over grass gone to seed. Photo by Larry D. Moore. Larry D. Moore · CC BY 4.0
Old Del Valle High School athletic facility, 7 Flow Lane, Del Valle, Texas
The Panther field house and practice field
The Panther field house and practice field were both filmed at the old Del Valle High School athletic facility near Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, the heart of much of the series’ filming.
The football, locker-room and coaches’-office scenes were shot here. From season four it was home to the East Dillon Lions as well as the Panthers.
One side of the field house was painted Panther blue and the other Lion red.
Gated off. The field and its towers can be seen from outside the fence; do not go in.
Where we read it
Pflugerville · what the berms copied
Pflugerville High School on West Pecan Street, October 2017. Kuempel Stadium is the school’s old field. Photo by Maureen.allen. Maureen.allen · CC BY-SA 4.0
1301 West Pecan Street, Pflugerville, Texas
Kuempel Stadium
In the pilot, Kuempel Stadium stood in for Hermann Field, home of the Panthers. It was used for that episode only.
Pflugerville High School’s teams are the Panthers too, which made the switch easy.
It is named for Charles and H. L. “Hub” Kuempel, who coached the school to 55 straight wins in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Since the 2017–18 school year the varsity has played at the 10,000-seat Pfield; Kuempel now hosts sub-varsity and middle-school games.
Pflugerville High School’s old field, now used for sub-varsity and middle-school games. The photograph shows the high school on the same street.
Where we read it
The Broken Spoke at night, August 2008, during the run of the series. Photo by Paul Lowry. Paul Lowry · CC BY 2.0
Austin, playing Dillon
After school.
Dillon’s town was Austin and its edges. The series was made almost entirely on location here, with no rehearsal, three cameras and whole scenes in one take.
Where we read it
All five seasons were filmed in Austin and Pflugerville; no rehearsal, no blocking, three cameras; scenes typically shot in one take.
A Dairy Queen in Austin, January 2009. The photographer did not record which branch. Photo by WhisperToMe. WhisperToMe · Public domain
5900 Manor Road, Austin, Texas
The Alamo Freeze: Dairy Queen, Manor Road
This Dairy Queen played the Alamo Freeze, where Matt Saracen and Smash Williams work.
The Austin Film Commission says a signed Friday Night Lights poster still hangs here; a 2020 guide lists the Alamo Freeze among sites you can no longer see, so check before you go.
The same Dairy Queen is in Spike Jonze’s video for Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs.
A working Dairy Queen. Order something and look for the poster. The photograph shows a Dairy Queen in Austin in 2009; the photographer did not say which.
Where we read it
South Lamar · Crucifictorius
The Broken Spoke on South Lamar Boulevard, July 2024. Photo by Larry D. Moore. Larry D. Moore · CC BY 4.0
3201 South Lamar Boulevard, Austin, Texas
The Broken Spoke
The honky-tonk where Landry’s band, Crucifictorius, plays in the first season.
James M. White built it and opened it in 1964. It carries a Texas historical marker.
City and state grants paid for new wiring, a new roof and a full coat of exterior paint in 2024 and 2025.
Dancehall doors open Tuesday to Saturday at 7.15pm. Two-step and swing lessons run Wednesday to Saturday, 8pm to 9pm.
Where we read it
The Broken Spoke
Two-step and swing lessons
South Lamar, Austin · Wednesday to Saturday, 8pm to 9pm · doors 7.15pm · 3201 S Lamar Blvd
Lessons with Terri White on the dance floor where Landry’s band played, then the dance hall for the night.
The Baker Center, the 1911 school on Avenue B in Hyde Park, December 2023. Photo by Slamforeman. Slamforeman · CC BY 4.0
3908 Avenue B, Austin, Texas
East Dillon High: the Baker Center
The former Baker School played East Dillon High School.
It opened in 1911 as Baker School, and was later a junior high, an alternative high school and school-district offices.
Tim and Karrie League, who founded Alamo Drafthouse, bought it, and it became the cinema company’s headquarters.
It was also a school in Walker, and joined the National Register of Historic Places in October 2023.
Offices for about 30 tenants, among them a coffee shop. Look at the front from Avenue B.
Where we read it
UT Austin · Oklahoma Tech
Gregory Gymnasium on Speedway, University of Texas at Austin, December 2025. Photo by ajay_suresh. ajay_suresh · CC BY 4.0
2101 Speedway, Austin, Texas
Oklahoma Tech: Gregory Gym
Some scenes at the fictional Oklahoma Tech University were filmed at Gregory Gym.
It opened in 1930 to replace a gym that burned in 1928, and was the university’s basketball arena.
Today it is home to women’s volleyball and the university’s recreational sports.
A university sports building on the UT Austin campus. The front and steps face Speedway.
Where we read it
South Congress · the pilot
The main gate of the Texas School for the Deaf on South Congress Avenue, about 2005. Photo by WhisperToMe. WhisperToMe · Public domain
1102 South Congress Avenue, Austin, Texas
Texas School for the Deaf
Some scenes for the pilot were filmed here.
The Texas Legislature created the school in 1856. It is the oldest continually operated public school in Texas.
Its campus covers 67.5 acres along South Congress.
A working school, not open to visitors. The gate is on South Congress Avenue.
Where we read it
Bunkhouse Hotels
Austin Motel
South Congress, Austin · Rates for your dates on the motel’s booking page
A motel with a kidney-shaped pool at 1220 South Congress Avenue, a block from the Texas School for the Deaf. Day pool passes for non-guests, seven days a week. The photograph shows the school’s gate.
Ratliff Stadium, Odessa, at dusk in November 2009. Photo by Zorin09. Zorin09 · CC BY 3.0
Odessa · Austin · Houston · 1988 and 2004
The real Panthers.
Before Dillon there was Odessa. H. G. Bissinger spent the 1988 season with Permian High’s Panthers; Peter Berg filmed the book in 2004, shooting most of the football under Ratliff Stadium’s lights. The real season ended in Austin, the city where the series would later be made.
1988Odessa: Permian’s season, with H. G. Bissinger alongside.
1988 · fifth roundAustin: a semifinal against Dallas Carter at Memorial Stadium, in heavy rain. Carter come back to win.
1990The book.
2004The film shoots its football at Ratliff, moves the last game to the Astrodome and makes it the final.
2006The series begins, made in and around Austin.
Where we read it
Bissinger’s book follows Permian’s 1988 season; Berg’s 2004 film adapts it.
Odessa, looking east from Texas 302, August 2022. Photo by Vasiliymeshko. Vasiliymeshko · CC BY 4.0
1800 East 42nd Street, Odessa, Texas
Permian High School
H. G. Bissinger’s 1990 book follows the school’s 1988 Panthers, with photographs by Robert Clark.
The school opened in 1959. Its teams are the Panthers, and the football team’s rallying cry is Mojo.
Permian has won six state titles, from 1965 to 1991, counting a shared one in 1984.
A working school, not open to visitors. The photograph shows Odessa from Texas 302.
Where we read it
Odessa · the stadium
Ratliff Stadium, Odessa, at dusk in November 2009. Photo by Zorin09. Zorin09 · CC BY 3.0
Odessa, Texas
Ratliff Stadium
Most of the football scenes in the 2004 film were shot here.
The film shows it as Permian’s practice ground; the real team practised mostly on campus.
It opened in 1982 on land given by the ranchers Bud and Sallie Ratliff, and is home to Permian and Odessa High.
Owned by the Ector County school district and home to both Odessa public high schools. Go on a Friday in season.
Where we read it
Austin · where it ended
Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium full on a November day in 2010. Photo by Randall Chancellor. Randall Chancellor · CC BY-SA 2.0
405 East 23rd Street, Austin, Texas
Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium
Permian’s real 1988 season ended here, in a fifth-round semifinal against Dallas Carter, played in heavy rain. Carter came back in the fourth quarter to win.
The 2004 film moved that game to the Astrodome and made it the state final.
The stadium opened in 1924, dedicated to the Texans who served in the First World War.
The University of Texas’s football stadium. Not a filming place: the real story ended here.
Where we read it
Houston · the film’s final
The Astrodome, Houston, photographed by Carol M. Highsmith between 1980 and 2006. Library of Congress. Carol M. Highsmith · Public domain
8400 Kirby Drive, Houston, Texas
The Astrodome
The 2004 film stages Permian’s 1988 state final here; the real game was a semifinal in Austin.
It opened in 1965 as the first fully enclosed sports stadium of its size, and was called the Eighth Wonder of the World.
It has been closed to the public since 2009 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014.
Closed to the public. See it from the edge of NRG Park.
Where we read it
Viator · Ad / affiliate
Tours in Houston
Houston
Live marketplace results for tours in Houston, home of the Astrodome. None is about the film.
Jeffrey Reiner, Jason Katims, Adrianne Palicki and Gaius Charles accept the series’ Peabody Award at the Waldorf-Astoria, New York, 4 June 2007. Photo: Peabody Awards. Peabody Awards · CC BY 2.0
Connie Britton and Kyle Chandler, Coach and Mrs Taylor, at a benefit in Beverly Hills, December 2008. Photo by Kristin Dos Santos. Kristin Dos Santos · CC BY-SA 2.0
Kyle Chandler in Beverly Hills, December 2008. Photo by Kristin Dos Santos. Kristin Dos Santos · CC BY-SA 2.0
Gaius Charles, Smash Williams, at the Tribeca Film Festival, New York, April 2008. Photo by David Shankbone. David Shankbone · CC BY 3.0
Taylor Kitsch, Tim Riggins, at a premiere in Tempe, Arizona, April 2009. Photo by Grant Brummett. Grant Brummett · CC BY-SA 3.0
Peter Berg developed the series from Bissinger’s book, and Jason Katims ran it. NBC aired it from 3 October 2006; from season three DirecTV co-produced it, and it ended on 9 February 2011: 5 seasons, 76 episodes. It won a Peabody, and in 2011 Kyle Chandler won the Emmy for lead actor in a drama and Katims the writing Emmy for the finale, Always.
Kyle ChandlerCoach Eric Taylor
Connie BrittonTami Taylor
Zach GilfordMatt Saracen
Taylor KitschTim Riggins
Jesse PlemonsLandry Clarke
Gaius CharlesBrian “Smash” Williams
Adrianne PalickiTyra Collette
Minka KellyLyla Garrity
Aimee TeegardenJulie Taylor
Michael B. JordanVince Howard
Where we read it
Creator, showrunner, networks, dates, seasons and episodes, cast and roles, and awards.
11 places you can visit: seven around Austin that played Dillon, and four for the real Panthers in Odessa, Austin and Houston. Private homes are left out.
Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Pflugerville High School’s old field, now used for sub-varsity and middle-school games. The photograph shows the high school on the same street.
General reference · Restricted access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Gated off. The field and its towers can be seen from outside the fence; do not go in.
General reference · Restricted access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Offices for about 30 tenants, among them a coffee shop. Look at the front from Avenue B.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working Dairy Queen. Order something and look for the poster. The photograph shows a Dairy Queen in Austin in 2009; the photographer did not say which.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Dancehall doors open Tuesday to Saturday at 7.15pm. Two-step and swing lessons run Wednesday to Saturday, 8pm to 9pm.
General reference · Restricted access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A university sports building on the UT Austin campus. The front and steps face Speedway.
General reference · Restricted access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working school, not open to visitors. The gate is on South Congress Avenue.
1Pflugerville High School on West Pecan Street, October 2017. Kuempel Stadium is the school’s old field. Photo by Maureen.allen. Maureen.allen · CC BY-SA 4.0
1301 West Pecan Street, Pflugerville, Texas
Kuempel Stadium
In the pilot, Kuempel Stadium stood in for Hermann Field, home of the Panthers. It was used for that episode only.
Pflugerville High School’s old field, now used for sub-varsity and middle-school games. The photograph shows the high school on the same street.
Where we read it
2The old Del Valle field beside Austin’s airport, September 2026: light towers and an empty frame over grass gone to seed. Photo by Larry D. Moore. Larry D. Moore · CC BY 4.0
Old Del Valle High School athletic facility, 7 Flow Lane, Del Valle, Texas
The Panther field house and practice field
The Panther field house and practice field were both filmed at the old Del Valle High School athletic facility near Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, the heart of much of the series’ filming.
Gated off. The field and its towers can be seen from outside the fence; do not go in.
Where we read it
3The Baker Center, the 1911 school on Avenue B in Hyde Park, December 2023. Photo by Slamforeman. Slamforeman · CC BY 4.0
3908 Avenue B, Austin, Texas
East Dillon High: the Baker Center
The former Baker School played East Dillon High School.
Offices for about 30 tenants, among them a coffee shop. Look at the front from Avenue B.
Where we read it
4A Dairy Queen in Austin, January 2009. The photographer did not record which branch. Photo by WhisperToMe. WhisperToMe · Public domain
5900 Manor Road, Austin, Texas
The Alamo Freeze: Dairy Queen, Manor Road
This Dairy Queen played the Alamo Freeze, where Matt Saracen and Smash Williams work.
A working Dairy Queen. Order something and look for the poster. The photograph shows a Dairy Queen in Austin in 2009; the photographer did not say which.
Where we read it
5The Broken Spoke on South Lamar Boulevard, July 2024. Photo by Larry D. Moore. Larry D. Moore · CC BY 4.0
3201 South Lamar Boulevard, Austin, Texas
The Broken Spoke
The honky-tonk where Landry’s band, Crucifictorius, plays in the first season.
Dancehall doors open Tuesday to Saturday at 7.15pm. Two-step and swing lessons run Wednesday to Saturday, 8pm to 9pm.
Where we read it
6Gregory Gymnasium on Speedway, University of Texas at Austin, December 2025. Photo by ajay_suresh. ajay_suresh · CC BY 4.0
2101 Speedway, Austin, Texas
Oklahoma Tech: Gregory Gym
Some scenes at the fictional Oklahoma Tech University were filmed at Gregory Gym.
A university sports building on the UT Austin campus. The front and steps face Speedway.
Where we read it
7The main gate of the Texas School for the Deaf on South Congress Avenue, about 2005. Photo by WhisperToMe. WhisperToMe · Public domain
1102 South Congress Avenue, Austin, Texas
Texas School for the Deaf
Some scenes for the pilot were filmed here.
A working school, not open to visitors. The gate is on South Congress Avenue.
Where we read it
Stay
On South Congress.
A motel with a pool, a block from the school where the pilot filmed.
Bunkhouse Hotels
Austin Motel
South Congress, Austin · Rates for your dates on the motel’s booking page
A motel with a kidney-shaped pool at 1220 South Congress Avenue, a block from the Texas School for the Deaf. Day pool passes for non-guests, seven days a week. The photograph shows the school’s gate.
Dates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.
The roster
Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.
11 of 11 places · 13 of 13 Moments
Kuempel Stadium
1301 West Pecan Street, Pflugerville, Texas
Hermann Field, in the pilot
Kuempel Stadium plays Hermann Field, home of the Dillon Panthers, in the pilot.
The Panther field house and practice field
Old Del Valle High School athletic facility, 7 Flow Lane, Del Valle, Texas
The field house
The old Del Valle facility is the Panther field house and practice field, and the locker room and coaches’ office.
The berms
Berms are built beside the Del Valle bleachers so the field looks like the Pflugerville stadium from the pilot.
The red side
From season four the same field house is the East Dillon Lions’ too, painted Lion red on its other side.
East Dillon High: the Baker Center
3908 Avenue B, Austin, Texas
East Dillon High
The 1911 Baker School plays East Dillon High School.
The Alamo Freeze: Dairy Queen, Manor Road
5900 Manor Road, Austin, Texas
The Alamo Freeze
The Manor Road Dairy Queen is the Alamo Freeze, where Matt and Smash work.
The Broken Spoke
3201 South Lamar Boulevard, Austin, Texas
Crucifictorius
Landry’s band, Crucifictorius, plays the Broken Spoke.
Oklahoma Tech: Gregory Gym
2101 Speedway, Austin, Texas
Oklahoma Tech
Scenes at the fictional Oklahoma Tech University are filmed at Gregory Gym.
Texas School for the Deaf
1102 South Congress Avenue, Austin, Texas
The pilot
Some scenes for the pilot are filmed at the Texas School for the Deaf.
Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium
405 East 23rd Street, Austin, Texas
The real semifinal
Permian’s 1988 season ends here, in a semifinal against Dallas Carter played in heavy rain.
Ratliff Stadium
Odessa, Texas
Under Ratliff’s lights
Most of the 2004 film’s football is shot at Ratliff Stadium.
Permian High School
1800 East 42nd Street, Odessa, Texas
The book
H. G. Bissinger follows Permian’s 1988 team for his 1990 book.
The Astrodome
8400 Kirby Drive, Houston, Texas
The final that wasn’t
The 2004 film plays Permian’s last game of 1988 as a state final in the Astrodome.
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