What evidence exists of actual MLS and NWSL demand?

What do practitioner surveys establish?

American Soccer Analysis’s NWSL survey collected voluntary, anonymous responses from seven of 14 clubs between June and September 2024 and was published on 6 August 2025. All seven respondents reported using raw player-event data; four prioritised additional staff and two higher-quality raw data when asked what would most improve their analytics use. ASA survey. (americansocceranalysis.com)

This supports a bounded conclusion: some responding departments had both data use and capacity constraints. It does not establish current league-wide budgets, tracking-data adoption or willingness to buy another product. The small, self-selected sample and older collection period matter.

ASA’s 21 July 2025 MLS survey reported that all 16 clubs responding to its functional-responsibilities question worked on recruitment and match/opposition analysis. That is evidence of overlapping use cases within participating departments—not 16 separate recruitment-only budgets. ASA MLS survey. (americansocceranalysis.com)

What are the more recent buying signals?

The Columbus NWSL Director of Scouting job description, available on 3 November 2026, explicitly includes evaluating third-party sources, researching scouting software and consultancy services, and managing a scouting budget. This is a concrete capability-building signal, but not evidence of an open tender, a particular incumbent or a disclosed spending amount. Employer job description on Indeed. (indeed.com)

For interview preparation, the 27 October 2026 Soccerwise episode includes a conversation with Columbus general manager Lucy Rushton and a chapter on starting an expansion club. Its episode metadata provides a useful current listening lead, not a substitute for contract or budget evidence. Episode and chapter list. (podcasts.apple.com)

The practical qualification question is therefore: What named purchasing decision, deadline and evidence gap would an independent evaluation resolve? Hiring activity and expansion create reasons to ask; they do not prove a sale.