National Football League Announces Ninth-Annual Big Data Bowl Powered by AWS

This Year’s Competition to Use Next Gen Stats to Evaluate Pre-NFL Indicators to NFL Performance

NEW YORK – Oct. 7, 2026 – The National Football League today announced the return of the Big Data Bowl, the league’s premier crowd-sourcing competition for the sports analytics community. Powered by Amazon Web Services (AWS), the ninth-annual competition will challenge participants to leverage NFL player tracking data, also known as Next Gen Stats (NGS), to create insights that will enhance the game. Applicants can begin signing up today to compete for a shared prize of $100,000 and the opportunity to present their submission to NFL teams at the 2027 NFL Scouting Combine.

This year’s competition gives participants a new way to use NGS data. For the first time, they’ll analyze NFL Scouting Combine data alongside select in-game data to identify which pre-draft measurements and traits are most closely tied to future success. The dataset will focus on five position groups: wide receivers, tight ends, defensive backs, offensive linemen and defensive linemen.

“Entering our ninth-annual competition, we are continuing to elevate the Big Data Bowl by giving participants the opportunity to evaluate current and former NFL Draft prospects,” said Mike Lopez, senior director of football data & analytics at the NFL. “The competition will uncover new insights into what drives success at the professional level while providing the sports analytics community the opportunity to advance the game of football.”

Since its debut in 2018, the Big Data Bowl has attracted participants from around the world and helped create a pipeline for analytics talent, with more than 75 participants securing sports analytics roles at NFL teams. Winning concepts have influenced official Next Gen Stats, including expected rushing yards, route recognition and coverage classification.

“The Big Data Bowl has always been about pushing the boundaries of what’s possible with football data, and this year’s competition takes that mission even further,” said Ari Entin, head of sports marketing at AWS. “We’ve spent years bringing Next Gen Stats to life for fans, from broadcast integrations to NFL IQ this offseason, showing how this data can transform the way people understand the game. And as with every Big Data Bowl, we’re putting data directly into the hands of the analytics community, this year asking them to bridge the college and pro game for the first time, uncovering how talent translates from Saturdays to Sundays.”

The participants will be able to analyze data from the five position groups captured through Zebra tracking chips worn by prospects at the NFL Scouting Combine. Contestants will be able to review select-player data from the 2023, 2024 and 2025 NFL Combines, including stats from the 2025 Offensive Player of the Year Jaxon Smith-Njigba and All-Pro defensive end Will Anderson Jr. In addition, player-tracking data from those same players during their snaps in NFL games will be shared.

Applicants can enter through one of two tracks:

Undergraduate/Graduate Track: This is open only to groups or individuals composed entirely of undergraduate or graduate students. Verification may be required to prove eligibility.

Open Track: Open to all individuals or groups outside of college/university.

The NFL will also again offer its Big Data Bowl Mentorship Program, connecting aspiring analysts with experienced NFL and industry experts. The program helps broaden pathways into sports analytics, giving participants the opportunity to contribute to the football analytics community while developing their careers.

As the Big Data Bowl continues to expand globally, AWS and the NFL will host five separate student-focused regional events. These events will bring NFL player-tracking data directly to university students and aspiring data scientists through hands-on analytics and data storytelling challenges powered by AWS. The series launched in Rio de Janeiro on Sept. 23 and will continue in London on Oct. 9, Paris on Oct. 21, New York City on Nov. 10, before concluding in Mexico City on Nov. 18 and 20.

Hosted on Kaggle, the competition provides participants three months to submit their work. Following multiple rounds of evaluation by NFL analysts and football operations experts, finalists will be selected to present their findings at the 2027 NFL Scouting Combine.

Finalists will be announced in early 2027. For additional information on the Big Data Bowl, visit https://www.kaggle.com/c/nfl-big-data-bowl-2027