Scott Jellen

Independent Researcher · Protocol Designer

I design standards-style frameworks, whitepapers, and RFC-grade specifications that model rights, access, and interoperability in digital systems. My current flagship project is the Universal Sports Graph (USG), a protocol for structuring sports rights and tokenized access. I also maintain a research archive of briefs and papers that explore how clearer incentives shape modern infrastructure.

Featured Paper: The Universal Sports Graph

The Universal Sports Graph defines a neutral interoperability standard for live sports: a rights registry, a universal Access API, and a league-governed clearinghouse that reconcile revenue and audit logs. By treating broadcast rights as structured data and access as an API, the Graph converts fragmentation into incremental revenue without cannibalizing subscriptions—transforming sports distribution from a patchwork of apps into shared infrastructure. The model introduces $4.99 day-passes, a 40 / 40 / 20 revenue split, and phased governance toward a global, regulator-aligned standard.

View Paper
The Universal Sports Graph Preview

Latest Updates

The Universal Sports Graph

Released the Universal Sports Graph blueprint, a systems-level whitepaper that sketches how a global sports rights graph could sit above leagues, broadcasters, and streamers. The paper lays out the economic logic, governance model, and implementation paths that RFC 0001 later formalizes into a protocol.

RFC 0001 — The Universal Sports Graph

Published RFC 0001: The Universal Sports Graph, a protocol for rights, reach, and real-time access. The memo defines a neutral interoperability framework for sports rights registration, tokenized access, and clearinghouse settlement — treating broadcast rights as structured data that can move cleanly across platforms, leagues, and distributors.

The Content Layer

Released a new whitepaper, The Content Layer: A Constitutional Upgrade to the Browser Start Page, proposing a structural redesign of the browser's first mile. The framework replaces the blank start page with user-chosen premium dashboards and a mandated revenue skim that funds a permanent Defense Fund for the Open Web — creating predictable civic funding, sustainable browser economics, and a governed foundation for the public web.

Whitepapers

Independent whitepapers that model how industries, platforms, and public systems can be redesigned through interoperability, rights structures, and protocol-oriented architecture spanning college sports, streaming, mobility, electrification, and institutional design.

Cover for The Sports Spin-Off

The Sports Spin-Off

A Long-Term Hedging Strategy for Higher Ed Institutions Facing Demographic Decline

Published: April 17, 2025

Read

Featured Paper: The Content Layer

Browsers are the world's most universal software, yet their first mile remains blank. The Content Layer proposes a constitutional upgrade: replacing the empty browser start page with user-chosen premium dashboards like Netflix, Xbox, Disney, Civics and routing a small, ring-fenced revenue skim into a Defense Fund for the Open Web. The model converts wasted real estate into a recurring civic dividend, establishing predictable funding for digital infrastructure while preserving market competition and user choice.

View Paper
The Content Layer Preview

Latest Posts

Not every viewer has to subscribe. But every viewer can still pay.

This new whitepaper explores how Netflix could quietly capture cable, FAST, and syndicated viewers not to pull them into the app immediately, but to monetize them where they already are. This isn't regression. It's backwards compatibility at platform scale.

View Post

The In-Season Tournament Was Cute.

This Is Serious.

View Post

Don't Be the Last One Who Still Thinks This Is Amateur Sports.

College sports hasn't been “amateur” in a long time.,

View Post

Briefs

Short, structured documents that translate my whitepapers and protocol work into clear, actionable summaries for people working with systems, infrastructure, and decision models.

Pilot Briefv1.012 min read

The Universal Sports Graph — Pilot Brief

A single-season, league-platform pilot for the Universal Sports Graph.

An 8-page implementation brief translating the USG whitepaper and RFC 0001 into a real-world pilot: rights schema v0.1, Access API stub, clearinghouse sandbox, governance structure, KPIs, and next steps for running a 2026 single-season, $4.99 day-pass pilot between a league and a streaming platform.

• Supplement to DOI 10.5281/zenodo.17537287

Featured Paper: Minimum Viable Classroom

A blueprint-grade whitepaper proposing a national education infrastructure standard that guarantees every student uninterrupted access to daily grade-level instruction — anywhere in America. By blending in-person and digital capacity, MVC ensures continuity during disruptions while supporting enrichment, remediation, and local control. Designed as a shovel-ready, award-facing model, MVC demonstrates measurable ROI within one budget cycle.

View Paper
Minimum Viable Classroom Preview

More Posts

What Owners Get Out of the Hybrid Season

Same 82 games. Same revenue base. But a very different March.

View Post

The Real Reason Universities Don't Act

It's not that they don't understand the numbers. It's not that they haven't seen the headlines. It's not that they think the current model is working.

View Post

Does the Hybrid Season Break the CBA?

Not Even Close.

View Post

Protocols

Protocol designs and RFC-style specifications that formalize interoperable models, rights structures, and implementation patterns developed through my independent research.

RFC 0001informationalNov 9, 2025

The Universal Sports Graph

A Protocol for Rights, Reach, and Real-Time Access

This RFC defines the Universal Sports Graph (USG), a neutral interoperability framework for sports rights registration, tokenized access, and clearinghouse settlement. It treats broadcast rights as structured data to enable transparent distribution, programmable contracts, and federated sports access.

Featured Paper: The Hybrid Season

An independent whitepaper proposing a structural upgrade to the NBA's regular season: what if the league reshuffled teams into intra-conference groups after the All-Star break turning February into playoff qualification and eliminating meaningless games? Written from the perspective of a developer and systems thinker, this project blends schedule logic, labor integrity, and fan narrative to reimagine late-season stakes without disrupting the 82 game model.

View Paper
The Hybrid Season Preview

Platform

A unified architecture connecting my systems research across sectors — ideas → protocols → platform.

Humanity-First Platforms

Platform is the unifying architecture behind my whitepapers, briefs, and RFC-style specifications. It describes how interoperable systems behave when modeled with clarity, transparent rights structures, and well-defined incentives.

The Three Design Patterns

Across sectors, the work repeats three recurring moves that shape the broader platform model.

  • Spin-Off Architecture
    Separate operations from governance to modernize or stabilize institutions without losing mission-aligned control.
  • Silent Incentive Rewiring
    Shift system behavior by adjusting underlying economics instead of relying on mandates. Examples appear across research artifacts, including work on streaming, mobility, and media formats.
  • Public-Private Leverage
    Use market mechanisms and private tooling to deliver outcomes that resemble public infrastructure benefits.

Canon → Platform Map

The canon functions as an evolving research archive. Each artifact contributes a structural insight, and together they inform the broader platform thesis.

The Briefs Layer

Briefs translate research into decision-maker language—executive summaries, one-pagers, and sector-specific guidance. They bridge whitepapers and protocols by turning system logic into actionable clarity.

  • What briefs do
    Distill complex models into deployable insight for practitioners, funders, and operators.
  • How they're used
    Early-stage strategy, grant submissions, internal alignment, and pilot exploration.
  • Why they matter
    They reinforce a multilevel workflow: whitepaper → brief → RFC → platform.

The Protocol Layer

Whitepapers explore sector logic. RFC-style specifications formalize those insights into standards-oriented models. The Universal Sports Graph (USG) is the flagship example, and additional structures may be elevated into RFCs as the work develops.

How the System Works

The workflow forms a loop: whitepapers open a sector, briefs translate implications, RFCs harden models into standards-style structures, and Platform ties these components together into a coherent systems thesis.

Roadmap

Current work focuses on expanding the protocol layer, organizing the canon, and developing a stable home for long-term standards work.

  • Protocol Expansion
    Develop additional RFCs that describe entitlement formats, settlement flows, governance options, and portability models.
  • Canon Organization
    Refine and index prior whitepapers, add DOIs, and unify the archive for easier discovery and cross-reference.
  • Lab Development
    Establish a public-facing home for the USG and future standards work as the research matures.

Want to discuss the architecture or collaborate?

Contact →

Featured Paper: The Shadow Subscription

A strategic whitepaper proposing how Netflix could monetize non-subscribers by acquiring and upgrading low-tier cable and FAST channels. The paper outlines a system for extracting subscriber-equivalent revenue from shadow viewers turning reruns into revenue and legacy infrastructure into a profitable, modern funnel.

View Paper
The Shadow Subscription Preview

More Posts

College Sports Runs on a 1985 Blueprint. It's Time to Start Over.

You wouldn't build it this way today. Not in 2025. Not if you had a clean sheet.

View Post

The All-Star Break Isn't a Pause - It's the Pivot

The NBA season doesn't need more events. It needs structure.

View Post

Why would someone buy a business that loses millions every year?

Because they're not buying what it is. They're buying what it could be if it were structured and run differently.

View Post

About

Independent Researcher & Protocol Designer

I'm an independent researcher focused on how digital systems can be made clearer, more interoperable, and easier to govern. My work centers on designing models, schemas, and protocol-oriented frameworks that describe how rights, access, and incentives move through modern infrastructure.

My background is in software and interface design, and I still approach problems through those lenses—treating systems as interfaces, tracing constraints, and mapping how small architectural choices compound into large institutional effects. I prototype when needed, but my core work sits at the intersection of systems thinking, protocol design, and structural analysis.

My current flagship project is the Universal Sports Graph (USG) a standards-grade framework for representing sports rights, entitlements, and interoperable distribution. Alongside USG, I maintain a broader research archive of whitepapers, briefs, and RFC-style documents that explore how different sectors behave under clearer incentives and better-defined structures.

Featured Paper: The Sports Spin-Off

An independent whitepaper exploring a provocative, under-discussed idea: what if universities spun off their athletic programs like businesses and later bought them back once the sports bubble collapses? Written from the perspective of a developer and retail veteran, this project blends outsider logic with institutional insight to propose a hedge strategy for higher education's uncertain future.

View Paper
The Sports Spin-Off Preview

More Updates

The Content Layer

Released a new whitepaper, The Content Layer: A Constitutional Upgrade to the Browser Start Page, proposing a structural redesign of the browser's first mile. The framework replaces the blank start page with user-chosen premium dashboards and a mandated revenue skim that funds a permanent Defense Fund for the Open Web — creating predictable civic funding, sustainable browser economics, and a governed foundation for the public web.

Minimum Viable Classroom

Released a new whitepaper, Minimum Viable Classroom, proposing a national education infrastructure standard that guarantees every student uninterrupted access to daily grade-level instruction anywhere in America. The blueprint blends in-person and digital capacity, preserves local control, and demonstrates measurable ROI within one budget cycle.

The Shadow Subscription

Released a new whitepaper, The Shadow Subscription, proposing how Netflix could monetize non-subscribers by acquiring low-tier cable and FAST channels. The paper outlines a strategy to extract subscriber-equivalent revenue from shadow viewers turning reruns into revenue and the legacy bundle into a modern funnel.

The Human, the Robot, and the Fire

Released a strategic memo unifying six whitepapers into one thesis: that the platforms replacing our institutions must be redesigned for humanity, not just scale. It introduces Humanity First Platforms a framework for rethinking how systems across energy, education, and media are built, governed, and sustained.

Let's Talk

I'm open to thoughtful conversations, collaboration, and roles that sit at the intersection of software and systems. If you've read my work or see overlap with something you're building, feel free to reach out.

Get in Touch

You can get in touch by email or connect on LinkedIn. I'm especially interested in opportunities that involve front-end development, systems thinking, or applying structured models to real-world problems.

You can reach me through:

Featured Paper: Artificial Enhanced Experience Advertising

A strategic whitepaper proposing a new structure for advertising that dynamically assembles localized, sponsor-driven experiences within video content. AEEA turns passive impressions into curated, bookable experiences blending media, commerce, and localization at scale.

View Paper
Artificial Enhanced Experience Advertising Preview

More Updates

Less Than Net Zero

Released my latest whitepaper, Less Than Net Zero, exploring how the U.S. could make residential electricity free not as a subsidy, but as a generative strategy. The paper argues that unlocking free power at scale could fuel AI, manufacturing, affordability, and a new era of national growth reframing the electric grid as America's most underleveraged engine.

Artificial Enhanced Experience Advertising

Released my latest whitepaper, 'Artificial Enhanced Experience Advertising' proposing a system where ads dynamically assemble sponsor-driven, localized experiences that viewers can book or purchase in real time turning passive impressions into actionable, curated commerce.

The $1,000 Problem / The $750 Solution

Released my latest whitepaper, 'The $1,000 Problem / The $750 Solution' proposing how car companies can reframe ownership through all-inclusive subscriptions eliminating hidden costs, leveraging platform scale, and delivering a true mobility bargain for the middle class.

Featured Paper: Less Than Net Zero

A strategic whitepaper exploring how the U.S. could make residential electricity free not as a subsidy, but as a lever to unlock national growth. This proposal reframes the electric grid as a generative economic engine that powers AI, manufacturing, affordability, and global competitiveness.

View Paper
Less Than Net Zero Preview

The Approach

Scott Jellen is an independent researcher working at the intersection of interoperability, rights modeling, and digital infrastructure. He is the creator of the Universal Sports Graph (USG), a standards-grade protocol for sports rights and access. His ongoing research includes whitepapers, briefs, and RFC-style specifications that clarify incentives and provide structural models for modern systems.

© 2025 Scott Jellen. All rights reserved.

Scott Jellen Logo