Josh Cella has joined U.S.-based American football league XFL as its new chief commercial officer. In his new role, Cella will oversee league and team sponsorship, advertising, and XFL’s consumer product businesses.
Prior to joining XFL, Cella spent nearly three years at Comcast Spectacor as chief revenue officer for its gaming division, Comcast Spectacor Gaming. Prior to that, he spent more than four years at Activision Blizzard Esports, where he led partnership and sponsorship efforts for Overwatch League and Call of Duty League as head of global partnerships.
Cella also spent more than three years at Spanish-language television network Univision as senior VP of digital media sales, and more than six years at the National Football League (NFL) as director of digital media sales and as an account executive.
Founded by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) founder Vince McMahon in January of 2018, the company was declared bankruptcy in April 2020. In July of 2020, a group of investors led by actor and pro wrestler Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Johnson’s business partner Dany Garcia, and RedBird Capital Partners, purchased the league for an estimated $15M USD. In its first season under new management the XFL lost $60M, according to Forbes.
