Buy a soccer club, they said. It’ll be fun, they said.
Wrexham AFC owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have invested a hefty sum into reviving the Welsh football team they purchased three years ago, and now the club has revealed it owes the actors an eye-watering £9 million (or about $11.4 million), ESPN reported. According to the accounts, turnover increased from approximately £6 million ($7.5 million) to nearly £10.5 million ($13.3 million) in the year ending in June 2023 and the club’s losses rose to £5.1 million ($6.4 million) from £2.9 million ($3.66 million).
“The financial losses suffered by the club since the takeover shouldn’t be repeated, with income generated by the club now sufficient to meet the operational costs of the club going forward,” Wrexham said in a statement.
“These losses were deemed necessary to allow the club to maximize its full potential in the shortest time practically possible,” the team added. “The club is under no immediate pressure to repay these loans at the expense of the progress we seek to achieve, and further financial support will be provided/secured to support the capital expenditure projects the club is currently planning.”
Among the projects in the pipeline is the expansion of Wrexham’s Racecourse Ground stadium. The 10,500-seat arena will increase its capacity by 5,500 to meet demand, however, construction on the site has yet to begin due to financial constraints, Football League World reported. In the meantime, a temporary stand that can accommodate about 2,300 additional fans was installed in December 2023.
Back in February 2021, Reynolds and McElhenney acquired Wrexham, famously known as one of the world’s oldest professional soccer teams, for a cool $2.5 million. At the time, the club was in the fifth tier of the National League and hadn’t been promoted to the English Football League in 15 years. Since the takeover, Wrexham currently sits third in League Two and is looking to secure back-to-back promotions. The co-owners also made the Welsh club the subject of the highly popular sports docuseries, Welcome to Wrexham.
The Emmy award-winning football drama, which airs on FX and is available to stream on Hulu, is gearing up for the premiere of its third season. The forthcoming installment was originally slated to air on April 18th, however, the release is now set for May 2, Deadline reported. The network didn’t give a reason as to why the series has been pushed back. Sorry, soccer fans.
