Gradient Sports

Gradient Sports is a sports technology company providing advanced football (soccer) analytics for professional clubs, media, and fans. It spun off from Pro Football Focus (PFF) in June 2024, rebranding from PFF FC to Gradient in 2025 to focus exclusively on soccer. The company is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, and led by CEO Nate Gerstle. In July 2026, Gradient Sports secured $10.36 million in an equity funding round. The company's core offering is a data and analytics platform that delivers granular insights into player and team performance. A key feature is the proprietary Player Grades system, which evaluates every player's action during a match, both on and off the ball. This methodology, adapted from PFF's renowned American football grading system, assesses the quality of execution on a -2 to +2 scale, rather than just the outcome. Raw grades are then normalized using statistical models that consider over 135 contextual data points per play, resulting in a final 0-100 scaled grade for objective comparison. This allows for a deeper understanding of player quality, aiding in recruitment and performance analysis. Gradient's business model is primarily B2B, offering its data as a service (DaaS) through subscriptions and API access to professional clubs, media organizations, and sports agencies. Clients use the platform for squad planning, opposition analysis, and recruitment. The Gradient API allows customers to integrate event data, physical metrics, and player grades directly into their own workflows and tools. The company also serves the media by providing context-rich analytics to enhance storytelling and fan engagement. For consumers, Gradient offers the Gradient FC App, a separate experience designed to help fans understand the game with more clarity. Keywords: football analytics, soccer analytics, player performance data, sports technology, computer vision, scouting tools, player grades, performance metrics, broadcast tracking, squad planning, data as a service, DaaS, PFF, Nate Gerstle, sports data, soccer data, player evaluation, performance analysis, physical metrics, event data, recruitment analysis