Over the years, the NFL has continued to make it clear that it is embracing the incorporation of analytics in evaluating teams and players. Now, the league is taking another step toward engaging the analytics community.

On Wednesday, NFL Football Operations announced its first-ever "Big Data Bowl," a sports analytics contest intended to help identify talented members of the analytics community.

Two grand prize winners will receive four tickets to a 2019 regular season NFL game in addition to a $1,000 NFLShop.com gift card.

There are five stages to the contest. Individuals or groups of up to four will use the NFL's traditional and Next Gen Stats to complete thematic challenges. A report on the findings must be submitted by Jan. 22, 2019, before eight finalist prize winners are selected to present their research to a live audience and club staff at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis.

You can find the official rules for the competition here.