Wrexham A.F.C., when Hollywood meets real life.Â
- Impact of being owned by Hollywood Stars and the outcome
- Financial, Sponsors on and off the pitch
When Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhaney set out to buy the world’s third-oldest football club, many shook their heads and thought it was a fad or a marketing ploy, with no hope that it would change Wrexham’s history. – forever!
It was November 2020 when Hollywood star Ryan Reynolds teamed up with Rob McElhenney – known for creating and starring in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia – to buy Wrexham for €2.5 million.
The duo became symbols of Welsh football around the world thanks to the popular Disney documentary “Welcome to Wrexham”. After 15 years outside the football league, the Red Dragons won the title in the Conference and earned a place in League 2. Namely, this season they continued in the same way as last month the football players of the now popular club around the world outclassed Forest Green on their home field with a convincing 6:0 and in the best possible way won placement in a higher rank – English League One.
Let’s remind, you that this is the second year in a row for Wrexham that the championship ends in the place leading to the league above, and as things stand – it doesn’t seem that the heated club from Wales will stop there.
The small stadium with only 12,000 seats will almost certainly welcome the new season in a new guise, so the army of fans will also gain even more members, and the most credit besides the players for the entire expansion of the club goes to Reynolds and McElhaney, who quietly and diligently brought the small city on the map of serious football.
The team was in the fifth English league and had almost no chance of making it to the Premier League. They could have taken a club from a higher tier, but they decided on Wrexham. Half the Premier League now has American owners, including Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool and more. The good things about it are clear: Global game, greater media rights, lower values than American leagues NBA, NFL, NHL.
The actors bought Wrexham, a fifth-tier club located in a town about 25 miles away from Liverpool and Manchester. Well, it wasn’t about promotion to the Premier League – it was about a creative and unified story and marketing genius.
Wrexham was fan-owned, so the cast met with 2,000+ supporters (on Zoom) in 2020 and made an offer. They agreed to invest around $2.5 million in transfers and facilities and even signed a 25-year lease on the Wrexham stadium to let fans know they would not be moving the team. The real move was a Netflix-style documentary series that followed their purchase, investment in the club, and the team’s return to the big stage. It’s called “Welcome to Wrexham”.
And here’s the best part — the first season was a huge success, on and off the field.
They jumped on Twitter from 35k to 209k (+364%), and Instagram from 27 to 208k (+607%). Tiktok is also their sponsor, as well as the companies Expedia, Vistaprint, and Aviation American Gin. Season tickets are only jumping, as from 2,609 season tickets in 2019, they have now reached 6,820.
The incredible story of this club will play in League 1 next season.
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