Latest round of crowdsourced innovation competition offers up to $100,000 to advance helmet technology and player protection
SAN FRANCISCO — Feb. 6, 2026 — Today, at the Bay Area Host Committee (BAHC) Super Bowl LX Innovation Summit, the NFL announced the next round of the HealthTECH Challenge series, a crowdsourced innovation competition designed to accelerate the development of cutting-edge football helmets and new standards for player safety. The HealthTECH Challenge invites inventors, engineers, startups, academic teams and established companies worldwide to submit ideas for improving the impact protection and design of football helmets through improvements to how facemasks absorb and reduce the effects of contact on the field.
Submitted designs may be compatible with all helmet models or tailored to a specific product line. Potential submissions may consist of, but are not limited to:
- Improved facemask and connector designs;
- Advanced energy-absorbing materials or structures;
- Enhanced helmet retention systems, such as chin straps
The HealthTECH Challenges are a key component of the NFL’s ongoing commitment to fostering research and innovation that can help reduce injuries and better protect players through advances in equipment. By working closely with the helmet industry and running a series of similar crowdsourced challenges in years past, the NFL has driven a rapid pace of innovation for helmet technologies. In fact, the most protective models ever tested are currently being worn on NFL fields originated from past challenge applicants.
Most helmet safety progress to date, however, has stemmed from improvements to the shell and energy attenuating padding. Facemasks and the elements that connect to them are a key priority in the next generation of helmet evolution. Shell improvement has occurred at more than double the rate of facemask improvement over the past 10 years, resulting in the proportion of concussions from shell impacts reducing and the proportion of concussions from facemask impacts increasing. For the 2025 season, 44% of in-game concussions resulted from an impact to the player’s facemask, an increase from 29% in 2015.
“The rapid rate of innovation in helmet technology reflects how research and data can directly improve the level of safety across football,” said Jeff Miller, NFL executive vice president overseeing player health and safety. “These challenges have raised the standard of equipment to help reduce concussions and mitigate the effects of head impacts. Recent efforts to improve shell impact technology have been incredibly fruitful, and now we look forward to evaluating this next wave of creative solutions to facemasks and other helmet components with the goal of further reducing injury.”
Selected winners will receive up to $100,000 in aggregate funding, as well as expert development support to help move their concepts from the lab to the playing field. The challenge is conducted in partnership with Football Research, Inc. (FRI) and Duke Biomedical Engineering (Duke BME); submissions will be assessed by Duke BME and a panel of expert judges established jointly by Duke BME and FRI.
The submission window is open until May 28, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. ET. Applications can be submitted to Duke.is/DukeMRP (a step-by-step guide is available here), and questions can be directed to HealthTECH@duke.edu. Full details on eligibility, submission instructions and evaluation criteria can be found at NFL.com/HealthTECHChallengeII.
A webinar for interested applicants, where further details on the challenge will be discussed, will be held on March 3. Registration for the webinar can be found here.
The HealthTECH Challenges are part of the NFL’s broader commitment to supporting research and innovation in player health and safety, including advances in the areas of head protection, lower extremity protection, materials science, and sensor technology, among others.
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