Sport is chasing the same handful of elite analysts. Flying them in for tournaments. Paying premium rates for their expertise. Then watching them work for others next month.

But this model is eating itself.

Naval Ravikant nailed it: "Technology democratises consumption but consolidates production." The best person at anything gets to do it for everyone.

That's exactly what's happening in sports analytics right now.

Cricket is showing a trend.

The Indian Premier League pioneered it. In the same way they cherry pick the best players for their prime-time slot on the calendar; world-class analysts now jet between leagues. They shape your auction strategy today. Someone else's tomorrow.

It makes perfect sense. Why maintain full-time staff when you can rent excellence?

But we're missing something critical.

Today's elite analysts didn't emerge from nowhere.

They developed inside organisations. They had mentors. They made mistakes on small problems before tackling big ones. They learned by doing, failing, iterating.

Now? We're becoming buyers. And only a few are developing.

Think about that for a second.

If everyone rents and nobody builds, where does the next generation come from?

AI poured gasoline on this fire.

The best analysts can now serve three organisations instead of one. Their output multiplies. Their value skyrockets.

Organisations see this and think: "We need less internal capability, not more."

Wrong.

Dead wrong.

Without analytical fluency, you can't even evaluate what you're buying. You don't know the questions to ask. You can't distinguish competence from excellence.

You become illiterate in an analytically driven world.

This isn't a gentle decline. It's exponential decay.

Young talent sees no career path and chooses other fields. Mid-level practitioners realise the industry can't sustain them and exit. Knowledge that should transfer between generations simply... doesn't.

The organisations that can't recognise good analysis? They're the same ones that need it most.

And they have no idea what they're missing.

Stop trying to choose between building and buying. Do both.

Here's what that looks like:

Track One: Strategic Expertise
Keep engaging elite analysts for high-leverage moments. Auctions. Draft windows. Tournament strategy. This works.

Track Two: Capability Development
Build baseline analytical competence. Create apprenticeship structures. Pair junior analysts with your hired guns. Make knowledge transfer mandatory, not optional.

Think of it like player development. You sign stars AND develop academy talent.

Same principle applies here.

Organisations building analytical capability while others rent it?

They'll own the future.

They'll have the literacy to leverage AI. They'll spot opportunities others miss. They'll develop the next generation of elite analysts - then benefit from those relationships forever.

The consolidation is happening. The question is simple:

Will you be a developer or a consumer?

The smart money is already moving.

The window to decide is closing faster than you think.