Add to your team order
Light-Up LED Pom Poms
Metallic streamers with LEDs built into the pom, a rechargeable pack, and one remote that changes the whole team’s color at once.
$145 USD per pair
For cheer coaches building a season budget: light-up poms are a one-time, program-owned line, not a yearly cost. At $120 a pair on 10 or more pairs, a 20-athlete squad with two spares is $2,640, about $6 per athlete per game across a 22-game year.
Building the 2027 cheer budget: one-time lines first
Most cheer budgets mix three kinds of cost: things bought once and kept for years, things bought every season, and things paid per event. Put them in separate columns and every conversation gets easier, with the athletic director, the booster board and the parents at the first meeting.
Light-up poms belong in the first column. The diodes are built into the pom itself, the battery packs recharge by USB-C, and one remote switches the whole squad, so the set the program buys this year is the same set it uses next year. The setup videos show how it all works in a few minutes. See light-up pom poms for every kind of team for how programs at every level fit them in.
How much does cheer cost? The lines in a season budget
| Budget line | How often | Usually paid by | Compared with poms |
|---|---|---|---|
| Uniforms | On the program’s replacement cycle | School, boosters or families | Kept for years, like poms |
| Bows | Every season | Families | Yearly; light-up bows are an option |
| Shoes | Every season, per athlete | Families | Personal, not shared |
| Practice wear and warm-ups | Every season | Families | Personal |
| Camp | Every summer | Families, sometimes fundraised | Per athlete, per year |
| Competition entry fees | Per event | Program or families | Per event |
| Travel and hotels | Per event | Families | Per event |
| Light-up poms | Once | Program, boosters or school | $120 a pair on 10+ pairs |
We publish one number in that table because it is the only one that is ours. Your uniform supplier, camp and event producer set the rest, so ask each for this year’s figure before you build the sheet. Parents asking how much cheer costs want the total per athlete; the columns let you show which parts repeat.
What do light-up poms cost per athlete?
$120 per athlete, once, plus spares. Here is the math for a 20-athlete squad:
- The order: 20 pairs plus 2 spares is 22 pairs, $2,640.
- Per athlete: $2,640 spread across 20 athletes is $132 each, spares included.
- Per game: if the squad cheers 10 football and 12 basketball games, that is 22 nights, or about $6 per athlete per night in the first year.
- Year two: the per-night figure keeps falling every season the program keeps the set.
Compare that with lines that come back every August. A one-time line is the easiest thing in the budget to defend, because it doesn’t show up again next year.
Should the program own the poms, or should each athlete buy a pair?
Program-owned is the better budget line for most squads. The set stays when seniors graduate, the pairs match because they came in one order, spares sit in the same bin, and next year’s new members don’t pay for gear the program already has. Poms have no sizes, so there is no reason for each athlete to own a pair. A numbered bin and a sign-out sheet keep the set together between seasons.
Athlete-owned works when families want to keep their poms, such as a senior gift. If you go that way, still order together so every pair matches. Of the 54 teams that applied to us this fall, the median asked for 17 pairs, and almost all ordered as a program.
Which budget line should poms come from?
Put poms on the equipment line, next to uniforms, not under spirit wear or athlete fees. Equipment is what the program owns and reuses, and that is what a pom set is. The money behind that line can come from three places:
- The booster club, often with one fundraiser sized to the order; booster club fundraising ideas has six, each sized to a pair count.
- The school or district budget, through a requisition and a quote.
- A program account holding last year’s fundraising.
For the full list of what a squad orders each season, see the cheer accessories checklist.
Where to trim when the number is tight
- Keep a pair for every performer. A half-lit sideline looks like a mistake; matching is the point.
- Trim spares to one or two. How many pom poms a team needs shows the count by squad size.
- Share one set between varsity and JV if they never perform the same night.
- Move bows to next year and buy the poms first, since bows are a yearly line anyway.
- Time it to the darkest season. Basketball nights in a gym with the lights down get the most from a set.
Competition programs use the poms on the sideline, at the send-off, in exhibition and in photos; check your rulebook before using anything in a scored routine. Competition cheer in 2027 covers that calendar.
Get your team number for the budget sheet
Apply on our team pricing page and put the quote straight into the equipment line. What the team rate covers lists everything inside the $120.
Apply with your team, your season dates, your colors and how many athletes are on the roster. We make the poms ourselves and will tell you plainly what fits your date. Team pricing is $120 a pair on 10 or more pairs.
Frequently asked questions
How much does cheer cost per athlete?
It depends on uniforms, camp, competitions and travel, which your suppliers and event producers set. Light-up poms add $120 per athlete, once, at the team rate.
What is your team pricing?
$120 a pair on 10 or more pairs. A 20-athlete squad with two spares is 22 pairs, $2,640.
Is light-up gear a yearly cost?
No. Poms are a one-time purchase the program keeps. You recharge the battery packs by USB-C, so there is no box of batteries to buy every season.
Can we get them in our team colors?
Yes. Tell us your colors when you apply. The light color changes by remote, and each pair can be split into two colors.
How do they work?
The diodes are built into each pom. Charge by USB-C (a red light shows it is charging), then change colors for the whole squad with one remote.
Can we get them in time for our event?
Send us your date when you apply. We make the poms ourselves and will tell you plainly what fits.
See also: light-up pom poms for every kind of team, booster club approval for light-up poms and cheer banquet ideas.
Questions: info@neoncowboys.com.
