Go or Kick? Enhancing the NFL Fan Experience with Real-Time 4th Down Decision Analytics by Mike Band Visit https://rstats.ai/nyr/ to learn more. Abstract: Before any given 4th down play, an NFL head coach must decide between keeping the offense on the field and going for it, or calling for the special teams unit to attempt a field goal or punt. Nearly every team has at least one staff member crunching the numbers in these situations over the course of a game. Our team at Next Gen Stats, in collaboration with Amazon Web Services, are taking 4th down and two-point decision analytics to the next level. Powered by a series of machine learning models, the Next Gen Stats Decision Guide analyzes crucial coaching decisions in real-time. Should the team go for it, or kick? Let's see what the numbers say... Bio: Mike Band is a data scientist architect at Lander Analytics and an analyst with the National Football League’s Next Gen Stats team. With a master’s degree in analytics from the University of Chicago, and bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida, Mike specializes in driving actionability through data science projects. Working both as a data scientist and on the business development side of Lander Analytics, Mike’s combination of programming skills, applied statistics background and communication abilities help drive data science projects from start to finish. Mike’s key to creating value through analytics: Effective communication of complex results into comprehensible, need-to-know reporting personalized for the intended audience. Twitter: https://twitter.com/MBandNFL Presented at the 2021 New York R Conference (September 9, 2021)