Wrexham AFC are now said to be worth some 300% more than the £2 million it cost Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney to buy the club in 2020.
- Wrexham promoted to League Two
- Hollywood ownership sparked club revival
- Estimated worth now through the roof
WHAT HAPPENED? Three years on from the point where non-league Welsh side Wrexham became a £2 million purchase of Hollywood mega stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, the club is now estimated to be worth some 300% more than it was when the pair bought the club, according to research from investment platform Saxo.
THE BIGGER PICTURE: Reynolds and McElhenney completed a takeover of the sleeping giant – who play at the oldest international football stadium in the world – in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic and have turned the club’s fortunes around after years of mismanagement and a period of fan ownership. Three years on from buying the club over Zoom and signing a 25-year lease on the stadium, Wrexham are now back in the Football League for 2023-24, which is said to have earned the club £1m in prize money alone. And that’s before considering their impending pre-season tour of the USA, growth on social media and success of their ‘Welcome to Wrexham’ docu-series.
AND WHAT’S MORE: “The investment was centred towards making ‘Welcome to Wrexham’, a Netflix-style docu-series that tracked the purchase, investment in the club and the journey of their Hollywood owners at the helm,” explained Saxo representative Anaam Raza, adding: “After debuting on FX in the States in August 2022, it received a 97% audience score and was immediately signed for a second season. The club would have made roughly $400,000 (£321k) per hour of content for the eight-part series which equates to around $3.2m (£2.57m).
“Following promotion, Wrexham’s social media accounts have been supercharged. Since the takeover, their Twitter following has grown by 1,040%, their Instagram following has increased by 3,111% and they have gone from no followers on TikTok to 1.2 million.”
A massive spike in season ticket sales, lucrative sponsorship deals with Tik Tok, Expedia and more, along with investment into the stadium are also contributing to the club’s surge in value, following a record-breaking season where they won the National League.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR WREXHAM? Phil Parkinson’s side have a star-studded pre-season tour of the United States lined up before life in League Two begins, where they will face the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea and LA Galaxy.
Source: goal.com
