Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney bought Wrexham AFC (commonly mistaken as Wrexham FC) for £2m ($2.5 million).
Despite the two knowing almost nothing about soccer, let alone how to own and run a club, the deal was done between November 2020 and February 2021, when the club were still playing in the Vanarama National League, England’s fifth tier.
Thanks to their Welcome to Wrexham documentary success, sponsorship deals, and the growing popularity of the club, Wrexham AFC is now in a much more stable financial position.
Speaking at Australia’s SportNXT conference in March, Wrexham’s director Shaun Harvey said.
“It is worth noting [that] it is an investment that has paid off. [The club is] now worth £9m.”
The success has not just been financial, they have grown fandom that will surely last for decades to come.
“The social media growth has been astronomical from 2020 to 2024, seeing an increase from 152,000 [followers] to 3,981,747 across all platforms,” Harvey continued.
“Ultimately, it was exposure, the spotlight that had been shone and all of a sudden, everybody wanted to see what was going on.
“We successfully managed the football club in the town for the local community and built everything else around it. It remained relatable.”
As of last year, it was revealed in “Welcome to Wrexham” that the pair had lost about £10m ($12m), a figure that made Reynolds “want to throw up.”
This figure includes a whopping £3.67m ($4.6m) to repurchase the club’s Racecourse Ground.
The two have also spent a boatload on wages, with their wage bill setting the all-time non-League record upon their takeover.
This past season, according to Salary Sport, their wage bill exceeded £5m ($6.27m), more than two-and-a-half times the League Two average of £2m ($2.5m). More on wages in future sections.
