One of the National Football League’s toughest competitions doesn’t take place anywhere near a football field.
For the seventh year in a row, data scientists and analytics buffs will be invited to test their mettle against each other in the league’s Big Data Bowl, powered by Amazon Web Services.
The competition’s goal is to distill the copious amounts of data collected from every player during every NFL game into stats and insights that the league and its teams can learn from. The Big Data Bowl was first introduced by the NFL in 2018 and quickly became a fertile proving ground for teams to find bright minds to add to their front offices.
“Not only do we get the ideas, but we also get a pipeline of talented analytics staffers that can come work for teams,” Mike Lopez, the NFL’s senior director of football data and analytics, tells CNBC Make It. “Because not only does the league office want these ideas, but the teams do, too.”
This year’s competition challenges participants to use data collected before the ball is snapped to help predict what an offense or defense is going to do during a given play.
Not only does the league office want these ideas, but teams do, too.
Mike Lopez
Senior Director of Football Data and Analytics, NFL
“Most of the historical analysis of everything in the NFL has been done on what happens after the snap,” Lopez says, adding that the insights gleaned by this year’s applicants could be extremely valuable for players and coaches looking for every competitive edge they can get.
On top of unrivaled visibility to decision-makers in NFL front offices — more than 50 Big Data Bowl participants have been hired by NFL clubs and vendors, according to the league — there’s also a cash prize at stake.
The top five submissions will each receive $12,500 along with an invitation to present their work to teams at the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine. The top team at the Combine will win an additional $12,500. Teams six through 10 will receive $5,000 each.
“It’s almost like a science fair,” Lopez says of the opportunity to present to NFL data analysts at the Combine. “You’re showing off your work. You’re answering questions on it. For a lot of folks, it’s almost like your first interview.”
Participants will have until January 6 to send in their submissions to be anonymously graded by volunteers from different NFL organizations before the top applicants appear at the Combine in late February.
You don’t need to be an expert coder or a football savant to succeed in the Big Data Bowl, although the qualities certainly help. Lopez recalled a Japanese married couple who has never watched football before becoming finalists several years ago.
The winners in 2020, meanwhile, were a pair of Austrian data scientists who applied skills they had learned in the biological sciences to NFL rushing plays.
“We’ve had really talented coders pair up with former coaches who really know football but maybe can’t code,” Lopez says. “They can work together on a submission. There’s no specific subtype that teams are looking for. We’ve had folks that are Ph.D.’s in analytical fields from top schools. We’ve also had undergraduates succeed.”
“Ultimately,” he says, “anyone who knows ball or can code has a chance.”
You can read more about this year’s competition and enter the Big Data Bowl here.
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