The Eighth Annual Big Data Bowl

The NFL has launched its eighth annual Big Data Bowl, a premier sports analytics competition powered by Amazon Web Services (AWS) that challenges the global data science community to innovate using Next Gen Stats. This year’s contest introduces a predictive element where participants must forecast player movement while the ball is in the air, utilizing data from recent seasons to generate new coaching and performance insights. The event serves as a critical talent pipeline for the league, with dozens of past participants securing professional roles within the sports analytics sector.

The 2026 Big Data Bowl, hosted on the Kaggle platform, marks a significant evolution in the NFL’s use of advanced analytics by introducing a first-of-its-kind prediction competition. For the first time, participants are tasked with predicting player locations using data from the 2023 and 2024 seasons, with their accuracy measured against actual outcomes from weeks 14-18 of the 2025 season. Mike Lopez, the NFL’s senior director of football data and analytics, noted that this new pathway aims to provide a unique look at the journey of an NFL play, engaging both amateur and expert analysts to drive innovation in how the game is coached and played.

Lucca Ferraz, a student at Rice University, was named the winner of the 2026 competition for his project titled "Ghostbusters: Back off man, I'm a Data Scientist!" His research utilized hypothetical distributions of "ghost defenders" to evaluate defender movement while the football is in flight. This year also saw the introduction of a public leaderboard, allowing for a transparent evaluation of submissions by comparing predicted player locations against actual Next Gen Stats (NGS) data. This shift toward predictive modeling builds on previous years' focuses, which included special teams, pass rush plays, and tackling metrics that have since been integrated into live NFL game broadcasts and team strategies.

Beyond the $100,000 prize pool, the Big Data Bowl continues to function as a primary recruitment tool for the sports industry, with more than 75 former participants already hired into data and analytics roles. Finalists are selected by NFL club analytics staff and present their findings at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis to a panel of experts, including AWS data scientists and NFL Network’s Cynthia Frelund. The competition emphasizes the intersection of technology and football operations, leveraging AWS-powered tracking to create insights that improve fan engagement and player safety through the identification of pre-snap patterns and player tendencies.