First, a quick story: Before I was your friendly neighborhood sports tech newsletter writer, I was a college athletics beat reporter who, at one point, voted for the Heisman Trophy. In my two years submitting ballots, I’m proud to say that both of my first-place choices (Alabama’s DeVonta Smith in 2020 and Bryce Young in 2021) went on to win the award.
The Heisman Trophy is the sport immortalized in 45 pounds of cast bronze, given to college football’s best player. But as Jeff Price took over as CEO of the Heisman Trophy Trust late last year, he recognized a need to grow Heisman’s presence across the whole football season. “We started with the premise that the No. 1 thing we could do would be to be a part of the season-long conversation,” Price said.
That work will spread across multiple efforts but stepped into a spotlight earlier this month with “Heisman Hopefuls,” a landing page for the fan vote (which opens Sept. 9) threaded with stats and metrics to help people follow the season’s evolution. “Heisman Hopefuls” is the first of many projects that will come with the help of tech consultancy Next League, which launched as Heisman’s AI and technology services provider with this project.
“Heisman Hopefuls” connects Genius Sports official NCAA data, EA Sports player ratings from its College Football franchise, and a voting system created with the Carnegie Mellon Sports Analytics Center that will weigh the votes being cast Canadian tech company. Yangaroo is helping to run the ballot process.
Matt Reinhart, Next League’s director of strategy and solutions, oversaw the project that came together in a couple of months, which Reinhart pridefully pointed to as an example of Next League’s capability to build, break and iterate quickly. This project will continue to evolve, he added, to infuse more analytics and develop more features to attract interaction throughout the season.
“This first year we’re trying to just stay on the road and not get too far [out]. We want to execute, get a good product out there, and then build upon that in the future,” Reinhart said. “So the things we’re doing and the experience we’re providing the fans this first year, I’m super happy with.”
Having a modernized and scrollable platform, plus more opportunities to dive into data for fans, is a crucial step to reach a younger group of fans, Price said. Heisman carried out a college football fan survey while Price was still just consulting with the trust, revealing that the group had work to do with millennials, Gen Z and Alpha.
Because media has always been part of the voting process, Heisman also benefited from the eventual content produced by voters (writing about a certain player’s Heisman campaign, the reasons why they voted the way they did, etc.). Now under Price’s guidance, the content arm of Heisman is stocked with a growing crew of people and avenues of outreach (like a new YouTube channel). Even that effort will be bolstered by Next League, Price said.
“I looked at that as a much better investment in buying into Next League as our fractional CTO and our consultant and advisers on all things that we’re going to do,” Price said. “And it’s certainly paying dividends in a very short amount of time.”
Article: Next League hoisting up Heisman’s new digital efforts
Press Release: Next League Announces Multi-phase Relationship With Heisman
Becomes Heisman’s AI and Technology Services Provider
NEW YORK, NY - August 24, 2026 - Next League, which designs, deploys and operates intelligent systems for leagues, teams and federations, today announced a multi-phase relationship with Heisman, the organization behind the top award in college football. Next League becomes Heisman's AI and technology services provider, taking on the role of the organization's technology function across data, platforms and AI.
With the first engagement of the relationship, Next League built the AI-driven data and technology infrastructure powering Heisman’s new season-long analytics, storytelling and fan voting platform, Heisman Hopefuls. Hopefuls is the first step in Heisman’s broader digital transformation spanning analytics, fan engagement, AI and storytelling, with Next League operating as Heisman's technology provider across it.
“We are thrilled to bring on Next League as our AI and Technology Services Partner,” said Jeff Price, CEO, Heisman. “This launch is the first step in a broader digital and AI transformation of the Heisman brand including enhanced analytics, fan engagement and storytelling. Next League has played an integral role in bringing this experience to life and we look forward to giving fans, schools and student-athletes new ways to be part of the Heisman story for years to come.”
“This relationship with Heisman shows how large legacy platforms can pivot using best in class technology to meet the needs and interests of a much larger audience," said David Nugent, CEO, Next League. "What they will be able to do, and what we will help them build, will expand their scope and reach and tell the stories of those tied to the award on every level. It will be a new benchmark for engagement for the Heisman and for many others into the future."
Heisman recognizes enhanced data, analytics and storytelling are critical to keeping the sport's most storied conversation relevant for the next generation of fans. Next League, with its focus on how emerging technologies and AI reshape the way sports organizations engage fans, will help Heisman deepen connections with its fans year-round and across every touchpoint. Together, they'll ensure Heisman stays ahead of how these emerging technologies continue to shape how fans experience college football and celebrate the stories and successes of all student-athletes.
Heisman Hopefuls, which launched last week, unifies official NCAA statistics from Genius Sports, EA player ratings and the season-long weighted fan vote model developed with the Carnegie Mellon Sports Analytics Center into a single fan experience. The result is the Heisman Hopefuls Field, featuring more than 11,000 student-athletes, and the Heisman Hopefuls Fan Vote, which opens to fans September 9.
About Heisman
About Heisman: Heisman, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, has a mission to empower future generations to make an enduring impact on society by amplifying the legacy of excellence of the Heisman Trophy and its Winners. Awarded annually since 1935, the Heisman Memorial Trophy is earned on the field of play by the most outstanding college football player in the United States. Rooted in excellence and empowerment, Heisman has evolved into a year round platform dedicated to developing future leaders and expanding opportunity through the power of sports.
About Next League
Next League specializes in designing, deploying and operating intelligent systems for leagues, teams and federations that power fan engagement, revenue growth and operational performance.
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Next League
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