Award data is the record of contracts that have already been awarded and published — the outcome rather than the opportunity. Each result names the vendor who won, the amount, the contract term and the competition type. It is the only one of Bid Banana's three search modes that tells you what actually happened, which makes it the one to use when you are deciding how to price and position.
How Do I Search Award Data?
- Open the Search tab.
- Under the search box, in the I'm peeling for toggle, click Award data.
- Enter the work you do —
"teacher professional development"or"EV charger infrastructure"— and run the search. - Click View contract on any result for the full record.
Your keyword carries across when you switch modes, so you can run one phrase against open bids, closed bids and award data without retyping it.
What's on an Award Record?
Every result card carries the awarding agency and state, the contract title, and then the four things you came for:
- Won by — the winning vendor. Where a contract went to several suppliers, it names one and tells you how many others.
- The award amount — what the agency committed.
- The contract term — how long it runs, which is also your best clue as to when it comes back around.
- The competition type — for instance Full and Open Competition, which tells you how the award was arrived at.
Filter the results by State, Agency, Procurement type, NAICS code or Industry. There is no closing date filter here, for the obvious reason.
How Does Award Data Improve My Next Bid?
It Tells You Who You Are Actually Competing With
Search your category in your region and read the vendor names. The ones that keep appearing are your real competition — not whoever you assumed, and not necessarily the biggest name in the industry. Incumbency is visible here in a way it simply isn't anywhere else.
It Gives You a Real Number to Price Against
Pricing is the hardest part of most proposals, and most people guess. Award amounts and contract terms tell you what agencies in your space have actually paid for comparable work. Divide the amount by the term and you have an annual figure you can sanity-check your own against — which protects you from pricing yourself out and from leaving money on the table.
It Surfaces Teaming Opportunities
A large award to a prime contractor reads like a closed door and often isn't. Primes on public work frequently need subcontractors, and many contracts carry participation requirements for small, women-owned or minority-owned businesses. An award listing several vendors is an even stronger signal: that contract was structured for more than one supplier, and there may be room on the next one.
It Tells You When to Show Up
Award date plus contract term gives you an approximate renewal window. A five-year contract awarded three years ago is worth a conversation now, not when the solicitation drops and you have three weeks to write.
💡 Tip: Save award records to Favorites with the banana icon, the same as live bids. A short watchlist of contracts approaching renewal is one of the most useful things you can keep in the platform.
How Do the Three Modes Work Together?
Each answers a different question, and they are strongest in sequence:
- Award data — who wins this kind of work, and for how much?
- Closed bids — how often does this agency go to market, and how do they word it?
- Open bids — what can I respond to right now? Then save that search so the next one finds you.
And if what you find is an incumbent sitting on the contract you want, that is not automatically a reason to walk away — incumbents lose more often than people assume, particularly where service has slipped or the requirement has changed. Award data at least lets you make that call knowingly. For a second opinion on a specific one, email the solicitation to [email protected] and our RFP team will tell you how they would read it.
Losing a Contract You Never Bid On Is Still Losing
Seeing that a contract went to someone else isn't a closed door — it is the blueprint for the next round. Bid Banana covers 1.6 million bid pages across all 50 states, local, state and federal, updated daily, from $49.99 a month or $479.99 a year. Start your 7-day free trial and look up who won the last contract you wanted.
Frequently asked questions
- Does Bid Banana award data show how much the winner was paid?
- Where the agency published it, yes — the award amount appears on the result card alongside the contract term. Coverage depends on what each agency discloses, so some records are more complete than others.
- What does "+22 more" next to a vendor name mean on an award record?
- That the contract was awarded to multiple vendors and the card is naming one of them. Multi-award contracts are common for high-volume services, and they are usually the most realistic route in for a smaller firm.
- Can I set up alerts for new contract awards?
- No. Saved searches and daily emails apply to open bids only. Save individual award records to Favorites with the banana icon instead, and revisit the search when you are planning a pursuit.
- Is award data the same as closed bids?
- No, and the distinction matters. A closed bid is a solicitation whose deadline passed — it may or may not have resulted in an award. Award data is the contract that was actually signed, with a named vendor and a value. Different datasets, different filters, different questions.
- Should I bid against an incumbent contractor?
- Sometimes — incumbents lose regularly, particularly where service has slipped or the requirement has changed. Award data lets you make that call knowingly rather than walking in blind. Email a specific solicitation to [email protected] if you want a second opinion from Bid Banana's RFP team.
- How do I search award data on Bid Banana?
- Open the Search tab, click Award data in the toggle beneath the search box, and enter the work you do. Click View contract on any result for the full record. Filter by State, Agency, Procurement type, NAICS code or Industry — there is no closing date filter, since the contract is already awarded.