# Neil Hornsby

> Neil Hornsby is the founder and former CEO and COO of PFF, the football data business that grew from his hobby in England into a supplier to all 32 NFL teams. Now CEO of rugby analytics company MatchSense, he focuses on detailed observation of individual contributions within team sports.

- **Role:** CEO at MatchSense
- **Organizations:** MatchSense, PFF
- **Nationality:** British-American
- **Education:** Liverpool John Moores University
- **Known for:** Founded PFF and helped develop its detailed player-analysis business., PFF reached all 32 NFL teams as customers during his leadership., Expanded PFF’s work into college football with the Collinsworth partnership.

## Career timeline

- **1983** — Became interested in American football while watching Channel 4 highlights as a university student in Liverpool.
- **2006** — Founded PFF as a hobby, according to his conference biographies.
- **2009** — Began supplying customized data to the New York Giants.
- **2010** — Discussed introducing subscriptions to fund full-time analysts.
- **2012** — Left consultancy to focus on PFF, taking an 80% pay cut.
- **2014** — Cris Collinsworth acquired a majority stake; Hornsby moved to Cincinnati.
- **2022** — Departure from PFF publicly reported in August.
- **2023** — MatchSense founded; his current professional profile lists the rugby analytics company.

## Achievements

- Founded PFF and helped develop its detailed player-analysis business.
- PFF reached all 32 NFL teams as customers during his leadership.
- Expanded PFF’s work into college football with the Collinsworth partnership.

## Latest updates

- **2026-10** — Research check: his public professional profile lists MatchSense, and the company website describes its CEO as the founder who scaled PFF. This is an observation date, not an appointment announcement.
- **2023-10** — Peter King reported that Hornsby and his wife Claire became naturalized US citizens in Cincinnati.
- **2022-08** — Cincinnati Business Courier reported that Hornsby had stepped down from PFF.

## Links

- Website: https://matchsense.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neil-hornsby-9a00424
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/PFF_Neil

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/neil-hornsby
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-23