NFL Big Data Bowl 2026 - Analytics

Overview

This competition challenges you to analyze NFL player movement during the crucial moments when the ball is in the air. You can either develop new metrics for understanding player and team strategies or create compelling visualizations for coaches and fans. It's a great opportunity to dive deep into football analytics and present your findings in an accessible way.

Requirements

Submissions require a Kaggle Writeup, which includes a title, subtitle, and detailed analysis, limited to 2000 words. You must also attach a public Kaggle Notebook for the University Track or a public video (3 minutes or less, hosted on YouTube) for the Broadcast Visualization Track. A cover image for the Media Gallery is also required. Submissions are evaluated on Football Score (30%), Data Science Score (30%), Writeup Score (20%), and Data Visualization Score (20%).

Prizes

There are two tracks: the University Track with three finalist awards of $9,000 each, and the Broadcast Visualization Track with two finalist awards of $9,000 each. Additionally, there's a Grand Prize of $5,000 awarded to one of the finalists.