How many domestic matches should coverage claims address?
| Competition and period | Scheduled regular-season inventory | Calculation and dated source |
|---|---|---|
| MLS, 2026 | 510 matches | 30 clubs × 34 games ÷ 2. MLS 2026 league description, checked 3 November 2026. (mlssoccer.com) |
| NWSL, 2026 | 240 matches | 16 clubs × 30 games ÷ 2. NWSL 2026 rules, checked 3 November 2026. (images.nwslsoccer.com) |
| Combined, 2026 | 750 matches | Desk sum of the two scheduled inventories; excludes playoffs and cups and includes Canadian MLS participation |
| MLS Sprint Season, 2027 | 210 regular-season matches, calculated | 30 clubs × 14 games ÷ 2. Schedule announced 29 October 2026. MLS. (mlssoccer.com) |
These are fixture denominators, not verified supplier-delivery counts. For an in-season audit, use matches completed by the agreed cut-off and allow for the contracted delivery delay; do not mark future fixtures as missing data.
Report separately:
- Full matches with playable footage.
- Matches with the required event fields.
- Matches with usable tracking-derived fields.
- Matches whose player identities join correctly.
- Matches available within the agreed turnaround time.
What does international transfer activity tell us?
It establishes recruitment activity, not the size of the scouting-software market. FIFA’s snapshot for 1 June–2 September 2026, published 3 September 2026, reported:
| Measure | Reported figure | Relevant limitation |
|---|---|---|
| Women’s international transfers globally | 1,406, up 19.2% against the previous record | Global cross-border activity, not NWSL transactions alone |
| Women’s international transfer-fee spending globally | US$28.6m | Transfer consideration, not intelligence spending |
| US clubs’ women’s international transfer-fee spending | US$2.9m | Association-level figure; do not relabel as an NWSL-only total |
| Men’s international transfer-fee spending globally | More than US$9.89bn | Not MLS spending and not supplier revenue |
Source for all four figures: FIFA, 3 September 2026. (fwctickets.fifa.com)
A useful counterweight to a blanket growth narrative: FIFA’s 2025 mid-year women’s table recorded US$4.21m of US spending. Comparing that with US$2.9m in the 2026 snapshot gives an approximately 31% decline, using rounded published values, despite global growth. This is a directional comparison, not a statement about recruitment-data budgets. FIFA 2025 table. (inside.fifa.com)
Sources cited on this page
- mlssoccer.comwww.mlssoccer.com
- images.nwslsoccer.comimages.nwslsoccer.com
- mlssoccer.comwww.mlssoccer.com
- FIFA, 3 September 2026inside.fifa.com
- fwctickets.fifa.comfwctickets.fifa.com
- FIFA 2025 tableinside.fifa.com
- inside.fifa.cominside.fifa.com