Gradient Launches NWSL Coverage for Clubs, Media, and Fans

Women’s soccer is growing at an unprecedented pace, and the NWSL is at the center of it. The league’s level of play, global relevance, and commercial momentum have accelerated rapidly, but the analytics ecosystem around the women’s game has not kept up. Too often, coverage is limited to high-level box score metrics or simplistic leaderboards that strip actions of the context required to understand true performance.

Today, we are excited to announce that Gradient is expanding its coverage to include the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL).

This is not a symbolic expansion or a surface-level overlay of a men’s model. It is a product commitment. We have built our grading and evaluation approach to reflect the realities of the women’s game, with the same standards that have made Gradient a trusted partner for clubs, analysts, fans, and media organizations.

“Women’s soccer deserves the same depth of analysis, the same rigor, and the same investment in infrastructure that the men’s game has benefited from. Expanding Gradient’s coverage to the NWSL is not a symbolic step for us, it is a product commitment. We are excited to support clubs, media, and fans with evaluation that respects the context of the women’s game and helps the entire ecosystem tell smarter stories, make better decisions, and accelerate what is already one of the most important growth engines in global sport.”

- Nate Gerstle, CEO, Gradient

Why we are expanding now

The modern women’s game deserves modern evaluation.

Teams are investing more in recruitment, performance, and competitive edges. Media is investing more in storytelling. Fans are investing more of their attention. As those investments grow, the need for credible, repeatable performance evaluation grows with them.

But existing tools often fail in one of two ways:

• They rely on raw event counts that ignore execution, overvalue volume, and undervalue quality.
• They use automated scoring systems that are easy to scale but can’t capture context and execution.
  
  

That gap creates real consequences. It can lead to misaligned recruitment profiles, incomplete player narratives, and missed opportunities to understand what is actually driving results on the pitch.

Gradient exists to close that gap.

What NWSL coverage will include

Gradient’s NWSL coverage will deliver the same core building blocks that clubs and media rely on across our platform, built for how the game is actually played.

Player Grades

Our grades are designed to reflect performance at the action level, not reputation or headline moments. Every grade is built to answer a practical question: how well did a player execute, given the context of the situation?

Deeper performance context

We go beyond outcomes to quantify the process behind them. That includes off-ball contribution, decision-making under pressure, and the hidden actions that shape sequences long before a shot or assist shows up in the box score.

Position and role-aware evaluation

Women’s soccer cannot be evaluated properly with generic templates. Our approach accounts for role expectations and in-game context so analysis aligns to tactical reality, not a one-size-fits-all model.

Delivery through Gradient platforms

NWSL coverage will be accessible across through Gradient's API as well as through the Epitome platform, enabling analysis workflows for clubs, media teams, and creators.

Built specifically for the Women’s Game

This expansion is a long-term commitment. We are investing in women’s soccer because we believe the league’s growth should be matched by the quality of its data infrastructure. We partnered with Twila Kilgore, former interim United States Women’s National Team head coach and current Technical Director for the Houston Dash, to tailor and validate Gradient’s grading model for women’s soccer. That work calibrated our benchmarks to women-specific physical realities and to the distinct play styles and tactical patterns that shape the women’s game. The result is a grading framework stakeholders can rely on for evaluation, planning, and storytelling.

“I believe this data has the potential to be a major resource - complementing existing platforms and adding insights that help tell the full story of moments. What’s especially meaningful is that the company is developing insights through the lens of the women’s game. From my experience, it’s some of the most powerful and valuable data I’ve seen for analyzing and communicating defensive performance.”

- Twila Kilgore, Technical Director, Houston Dash

We believe that better analytics change outcomes:

• Better evaluation improves recruitment decisions.
• Better context improves coaching insights.
• Better tools improve storytelling and fan understanding.
• Better infrastructure supports the entire ecosystem.
  

Who this is for

Clubs and technical staffs

Recruitment, opposition analysis, player evaluation, and internal performance review, supported by context-rich grades and underlying metrics.

Media and storytellers

A more credible foundation for narratives, explainers, studio segments, and articles, with analytics that can stand up to scrutiny.

Brands and partners

A data layer that enhances content activations and creates more compelling, insight-led storytelling around the league.

Fans

A clearer, more intelligent way to follow the league, understand player performance, and engage in the conversations that matter. Gradient brings context to the moments that define matches, helping fans move beyond highlight clips and box scores to understand the decisions and actions that actually drive results.

What’s next?

We will share additional product details in the coming weeks, including examples of NWSL-specific insights and how teams and media can access the coverage.

If you are an NWSL club, media organization, or content partner interested in using Gradient coverage this season, we would welcome the opportunity to connect.

Contact us to learn more, request a demo, or discuss partnership opportunities.

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