Game Changing Analytics How The Nfl And Businesses Score Big With Aws

Bonisiwe Shabane

-Nov 1, 2025, 7:47 PM

game changing analytics how the nfl and businesses score big with aws

This four-part blog series from 27Global provides an overview of an internal project to plan, design, and implement an AI-driven solution. Follow along to learn about our use case, our challenges, and our successes. This four-part blog series from 27Global provides an overview of an internal project to plan, design, and implement an AI-driven solution. Follow along to learn about our use case, our challenges, and our successes. This four-part blog series from 27Global provides an overview of an internal project to plan, design, and implement an AI-driven solution. Follow along to learn about our use case, our challenges, and our successes.

Football, a sport of strategy, athleticism, and heart-pounding moments, has always been a game of numbers. Beyond the touchdowns, sacks, and interceptions, there’s a world of hidden metrics that shape the dynamics of each play. We sat down with the AWS Generative AI Innovation Center (GAIIC) to unveil the intricacies behind ‘Pressure Probability,’ the latest AI-powered stat developed in collaboration with the NFL’s Next Gen Stats team. In the dynamic world of professional sports, the quest to gain a competitive edge has shifted from the weight room to the data room. The National Football League (NFL), in its ongoing pursuit of excellence, has embraced cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) and data science techniques to extract meaningful insights from its troves of raw data. As we’ve seen through the Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Next Gen Stats (NGS) partnership, deciphering the intricate patterns of player movement, actions, and interactions on the field is essential for both strategic analysis...

In a glimpse behind the scenes, we delve into a conversation with the engineers and data scientists who help spearhead the NFL’s AI revolution. With an intricate blend of technical expertise, domain knowledge, and innovative problem-solving, they are transforming raw data into actionable insights to reshape the game of football. The NFL’s Next Gen Stats initiative encompasses several ambitious projects, each driven by its unique challenges. Among these projects, the pursuit of defining what pressure is during a passing play and how it affects the game, has stood out as a fascinating confluence of AI and football knowledge. Inspired by submissions from the 2023 Big Data Bowl, an annual open-source competition organized by the NFL, the AWS and NGS teams set out to create a new suite of analytics, all pertaining to... Identifying and quantifying pressure created by an individual defender; the magnitude of pressure created over the course of the play; blocking responsibilities and credit; and identifying double teams and unblocked rushers are just a...

The NFL and Amazon Web Services, Inc., an Amazon.com company, extended their long-term partnership. Since 2017, the NFL and AWS have been at the forefront of innovation, leveraging AWS's artificial intelligence and machine learning services to shape the future of football. The global partnership will be on display during this week’s games with the debut of a new AI-powered Next Gen Stat that changes how we understand and analyze tackles in football. The Tackle Probability ML model predicts the likelihood that a given defender will make a tackle at any given moment of a play, helping to quantify which defenders are the most reliable tacklers and... Tackle Probability can be used to calculate various metrics that can be applied to both offensive and defensive analysis, such as missed tackle attempts by a defender and missed tackles forced by a ball... Powered by AWS, the Next Gen Stats platform collects more than 500 million data points each season.

This data serves as the foundation for innovation throughout the NFL, from enhancing fan engagement through advanced statistics, to transforming the viewing experience by enabling alternate broadcasts and new ways of visualizing the action... Data-driven insights have a direct impact on the game itself by informing rule changes to make the game safer and even more exciting, including the NFL’s new Dynamic Kickoff. The implementation of generative AI to increase operational efficiency and drive additional value for the league and its fans is key component of the partnership. NFL Media has implemented Amazon Q Business, a generative AI-powered assistant, so users can ask questions and get answers to a wide range of questions. NFL Media has also launched a generative AI-powered research tool built on Amazon Bedrock that enables the production team to use natural language prompts to retrieve insights and relevant footage from plays throughout the... AI in sports transforms the NFL with over 500 million data points per season.

Learn how AI is revolutionizing America's favorite game and shaping its future. For 20 years, Paul struggled to balance his home life with fast-moving leadership roles at Dell, Amazon, and Microsoft, where he led a team of progressive HR, procurement, and legal trailblazers to launch Microsoft’s... Editor-in-Chief - ex Microsoft, Amazon, Dell In the high-stakes world of professional football, the NFL is leveraging AI in sports to tackle its most pressing challenges. Artificial intelligence is reshaping America's favorite game from player safety to fan engagement. And AI in sports is now revolutionizing everything about football: how the game is played, watched, analyzed, and managed.

The NFL faces a myriad of challenges that are common to other sports leagues. Player safety and injury prevention remain paramount concerns, with the long-term effects of concussions and other injuries continually under scrutiny. The NFL has responded with transparency about injury rates and efforts toward minimizing them; the league reported 700 fewer missed games due to injuries in 2023 compared to 2022. In 2018, the most popular TV program wasn’t a critically acclaimed drama or a hot new reality show. It was football. NFL games accounted for 46 of last year’s top 50 telecasts, averaging 15.8 million viewers over the season.

For fans, the sport’s continued appeal may have a lot to do with the chess-like combination of strategy, preparation and instinct that goes into every play. No factor can be overlooked for its potential impact on how those plays pan out: everything from changes in team rosters to the conditions on the field (i.e., indoor vs. outdoor, day vs. night, not to mention wind and precipitation). While the NFL has tracked a wide variety of statistics since its inception, for decades these metrics were relatively rudimentary—like simply counting statistics that didn’t necessarily reveal the full scope of what happened during... Recently, the NFL realized it needed a more advanced system to collect data and make sense of it.

Such a system could reveal insights about game dynamics for both fans and players—for example, the results of particular player lineups or the factors that impacted a player’s performance. The end goal: to create customer loyalty for the NFL and fuel diehard fans in their quest to better understand the game. Today, the NFL’s Next Gen Stats (NGS) program uses sophisticated tracking technology collected via RFID devices in the shoulder pads of every player and embedded at each of its stadiums. These devices capture data about which players are on the field at a given moment, their location within inches, and the speed and direction in which they move. This treasure trove of data represents a tremendous resource for the league’s 32 teams, multiple media partners and approximately 180 million fans worldwide. Partnering with Amazon Web Services (AWS), the NFL is leveraging the power of its data through sophisticated analytics and machine learning.

“Machine learning is unlocking potential for us to do more than we otherwise could, in a timely manner with a high degree of confidence,” says Matt Swensson, vice president of emerging products and technology... “We had a lot of stats and wanted to find the best way to leverage them. We’re taking in so much data now with the tracking system that we’re able to use machine learning to understand what elements are relevant and what are not.” From pre-season to post-season, the National Football League (NFL) delivers fans a thrilling, action-packed three hours with each game. Behind the nation’s most popular league is a philosophy of continuous improvement best expressed by legendary Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino, who said, “You can do more, you can always do more.” One way the NFL does more is by pursuing innovative, data-driven programs to improve player safety, help players achieve their full potential, and make the game more exciting for fans.

Since 2019, the League has partnered with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to implement a cloud-based data strategy that uses analytics, machine learning (ML), and artificial intelligence (AI) to gain a deeper understanding of every... Data is a powerful tool when it comes to maintaining the excitement and competitiveness of professional football while making the game safer for players. Since 2002, the NFL has used data to inform 50 rules changes to reduce the risk of injury. And through sources such as equipment sensors and video analysis, the NFL collects data from every move a player makes on the field. This allows for a better understanding of how, when, and where injuries typically occur—information that drives efforts to reduce, and ultimately prevent injuries. Through its collaborations with AWS and the NFL Players Association, the NFL has sparked a revolution in helmet design while generating greater player enthusiasm for safer headgear.

Over the past three seasons, the NFL has achieved nearly 100% adoption of top-performing helmets, and in each of the last four seasons, it has seen a 25% reduction in concussions compared to the... The NFL also works with the AWS Machine Learning Solutions Lab to take player safety to a new level. Using AI and ML on AWS, the NFL is building the Digital Athlete, a virtual representation of an NFL player that can be used to better predict and eventually prevent player injury. The Digital Athlete uses NFL data to run simulations that assess the impact of equipment choices, fatigue, weather, field surfaces, lighting, play strategies, game rules and other factors on player safety and performance. The League then uses this technology to assess players’ individual risk level, mitigate that risk as they prepare for upcoming games, develop individualized training and recovery plans for players, identify ways to improve equipment... Picture one of the most anticipated matchups of the NFL football season with the clock winding down.

The quarterback hands off the football to the running back, who is met by a wall of defenders at the line of scrimmage. In this moment, it’s unclear if the running back will evade a tackle and make a run for the end zone, or instead, be tackled for a loss. Tackling is a huge component of football, but assessing the quality of NFL tackling plays has been largely subjective—until now. As the 2024 National Football League (NFL) season kicks off this month, fans can dig into new tackle-related metrics calculated with the benefits of artificial intelligence (AI). Developed by the Next Gen Stats (NGS) team and Amazon Web Services (AWS), Tackle Probability paints a more complete picture of the art of the tackle than previously possible, from both an offensive and... Until now, tackling statistics were limited to simple counts of solo and assisted tackles.

A new tackle probability model aims to capture the entire process of tackling, from pursuit angles to missed attempts, providing a wealth of deeper and more granular insights for teams, broadcasters, and fans alike. Earlier this year, the NGS team enlisted AWS Professional Services to build a machine learning (ML) model that uses more than two million individual data points to compute tackle probability for every player, during... And the model was trained and in production in less than six months. “Football is games within games, and it’s been tough to find stats that truly quantify tackling beyond just the outcome. It was a huge hole in our football stats toolbox and an area where we knew we needed more quantified metrics,” explained Mike Band, Senior Manager of Research and Analytics, NFL Next Gen Stats. “AWS gave us the expertise and support to get this new, highly complex stat past the finish line in time for the season.”

NEW YORK – Sept. 10, 2024 – The National Football League and Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS), an Amazon.com company (NASDAQ: AMZN), today announced an extension of their long-term partnership. Since 2017, the NFL and AWS have been at the forefront of innovation, leveraging AWS's artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) services to shape the future of football. The global partnership will be on display during this week’s games with the debut of a new AI-powered Next Gen Stat that changes how we understand and analyze tackles in football. The Tackle Probability ML model predicts, at any given moment of a play, the likelihood that a given defender will make a tackle, helping to quantify which defenders are the most reliable tacklers and...

Tackle Probability can be used to calculate various metrics that can be applied to both offensive and defensive analysis, such as missed tackle attempts by a defender and missed tackles forced by a ball... Powered by AWS, the Next Gen Stats platform collects over 500 million data points each season. This wealth of data serves as the foundation for innovation throughout the NFL, from enhancing fan engagement through advanced statistics to transforming the viewing experience by enabling alternate broadcasts and new ways of visualizing... Additionally, data-driven insights have a direct impact on the game itself by informing rule changes to make the game safer and even more exciting, including the NFL’s new Dynamic Kickoff. A key component of the partnership renewal is the implementation of generative AI to increase operational efficiency and drive additional value for the league and its fans. “Through our collaboration with AWS, we are continuously pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in football,” said Gary Brantley, chief information officer at the NFL.

“By harnessing the power of data and advanced technologies like generative AI, together we are accelerating the pace of innovation in important areas such as player safety, fan engagement and content production. This season we’ll see an increase in operational efficiency as we begin to leverage AWS’s generative AI capabilities at NFL Media.” by Ari Entin on 27 FEB 2025 in Amazon Quick Sight, Analytics, Customer Solutions, Data Science & Analytics for Media, Industries, Media & Entertainment, Sports Permalink Comments Share Every year, the National Football League (NFL) Scouting Combine brings together hundreds of the most promising college football prospects to showcase their abilities through a series of physical and mental tests. While individual drill results—like 40-yard dash times or bench press repetitions—provide valuable data points, synthesizing this information into actionable insights presents a significant challenge. To interpret data captured at the Combine, the NFL Next Gen Stats (NGS) team developed Draft Score, built on Amazon Web Services (AWS).

Game Changing Analytics How The Nfl And Businesses Score Big With Aws

People Also Search

This Four-part Blog Series From 27Global Provides An Overview Of

Football, A Sport Of Strategy, Athleticism, And Heart-pounding Moments, Has

In A Glimpse Behind The Scenes, We Delve Into A

The NFL And Amazon Web Services, Inc., An Amazon.com Company,

This Data Serves As The Foundation For Innovation Throughout The