Sports Opps: XFL taps chief commercial officer amid CMO search (Score 74)
Sales Lead: The XFL selected Josh Cella as its new chief commercial officer.
- Cella will now oversee the brand's league and team advertising, sponsorship, and consumer product businesses.
- He joined from Comcast Spectator, where he served as the gaming, e-sports, and media CRO.
- In this role, Cella's responsibilities included advertising and sponsorship sales.
- To the best of our knowledge, the XFL has not yet found a new CMO or marketing and brand VP after this year's job cuts.
- The brand will likely:
- Shift spend as it shifts its strategy
- Seek new agency partners
- Target demographic:
- Male sports enthusiasts
Additional spending insights:
- Broadcast insights (TV ad creative spend, effectiveness, impressions, and performance)
- YTD spend: So far this year, the XFL has spent approximately $1.5m on national TV commercials; by this point last year, it had not yet utilized this channel.
- Last year: The brand spent around $3.2k on this channel in 2022 and did not utilize it in 2021.
- 2023 ad programming: The XFL's 2023 commercials have targeted male sports enthusiasts watching shows such as XFL Football, SportsCenter, NBA Basketball, College Basketball, and the 2023 NBA All-Star Celebrity Game.
- Digital and social insights (digital ad spend, effectiveness, impressions, and performance)
- YTD spend: The brand has allocated roughly $387.3k toward digital ads YTD, a huge increase from the measly $500 it had allocated by this point last year.
- YTD data: The XFL has earned ~59.4m digital impressions YTD via Facebook (61%), Instagram (17%), desktop display (17%), and mobile display (5%) ads.
- Last year: The brand's estimated full-year 2022 spend reached $1.5k; it did not invest in this channel in 2021.
- Additional channel insights
- The brand invests in Facebook ads.
- The XFL sponsors podcasts such as Peloton, Solo Show, Underdog Fantasy, Orangetheory, Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, and The Action Network.
Additional agency insights:
- Opportunity: If you haven't yet done so, reach out soon to offer PR, media, digital analytics, experiential, social media management, multicultural, and/or influencer services.
- We haven't yet heard of any additional roster shifts since the XFL selected R/GA as its creative AOR about a year ago.
- Current agency roster:
- R/GA: Creative AOR (April 2022)
Insight Sources: Broadcast insights estimated by iSpot; digital spend insights estimated by Pathmatics; additional channel insights estimated by Vivvix; podcast insights by Podchaser.
