# How should a club compare total cost and incremental intelligence?


**Use a common requirements sheet and an existing-stack baseline before requesting prices.** This is the desk’s recommended procurement method, not a claim about prevailing club practice.

### What belongs in the scouting software total cost of ownership calculation?

| Cost or constraint | Evidence to request |
|---|---|
| Recurring access | Annual fee, currency, billing period, seats, competitions, seasons and modules |
| Implementation | Fixed scope, migration, identifier mapping, connectors and acceptance criteria |
| Usage-linked cost | Downloads, API limits, processing, storage, credits or overage terms |
| Transition | Parallel subscriptions, training, migration and termination obligations |
| Ongoing maintenance | Model changes, schema updates, reconciliation and support responsibilities |
| Intended use | Written treatment of exports, internal modelling, AI processing, retention and multi-club sharing |

Keep two totals: **external cash cost** and **internal staff capacity required**. Hours released are not automatically payroll savings, and a licence should not be described as removable until its essential capabilities have been tested elsewhere.

Technical maintenance is not hypothetical as a procurement category: Hudl’s **22 September 2025 Statsbomb release notes** document API and model changes affecting identifiers, timestamps and some calculated outputs. That is a reason to ask how changes are communicated and regression-tested—not evidence that the product is unsuitable. [Official release notes](https://www.hudl.com/releases/statsbomb). ([hudl.com](https://www.hudl.com/releases/statsbomb?utm_source=openai))

### What should a same-shortlist trial measure?

Use the same authorised players, questions and delivery deadline for every supplier. Record:

- Additional supported findings beyond the incumbent stack.
- Priority footage or data gaps closed.
- Time required to produce an assessable answer.
- Unresolved identity matches and missing fields.
- Whether the intended workflow is included in the written offer.
- The capability lost if an incumbent is removed.

Set must-pass requirements before weighted scoring. A failed priority-coverage or intended-use requirement should not disappear inside a strong average score.

The appropriate outputs are **retain, add, replace, consolidate, build internally or buy nothing**. Neither market expansion nor a supplier’s funding round is sufficient reason to purchase.