Wrexham AFC get new minority owners after Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney deal | OneFootball

Wrexham AFC reportedly have new minority owners as a result of a deal that has seen Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney acquire a stake in another football club after their success with the Welsh side.

Since the actors announced their purchase of the North Wales club in late 2020 for around £2 million, Wrexham have won the National League and gained promotion to League One in the following season.

The pair have done wonders for the club. They have massively increased the team's popularity, purely via osmosis and their worldwide reach, and they've helped them bring in record revenues for the club.

In the 2022/23 season, their revenue was £10.5 million, which broke the National League record, was higher than every club in League Two, and most League One sides. Those same statements apply to their wages and losses from that season as well.

The club has, undoubtedly, been successful, no matter how they've gone about it or your feelings towards how they've done it, and the pair have taken up another opportunity to try and help a football club grow.

Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney invest in Club Necaxa

According to Variety, the Wrexham owners have purchased a stake in Club Necaxa - a Mexican team who play in the Liga MX (the most watched league in the USA).

Fellow actor Eva Longoria, who was already on board at the Mexican side, is said to be the one who got the pairing to join the club's mission. Reynolds and McElhenney will work alongside Longoria, as well as fellow investors Al Tylis and Sam Porter.

The amount of the club that R.R McReynolds now holds is unclear, but Variety believe it to be a significant one, despite it being a minority investment.

As part of the deal to get the pair on board, Longoria, Tylis and Porter, who have held stakes in Necaxa since 2021, now own 5% of the Welsh club, as per Sportico - Variety's sibling sports publication.

The aim, much like it was with Wrexham, is to grow the worldwide notoriety of the club as the demand for the sport continues to peak across the globe.

The Welsh side's docuseries 'Welcome to Wrexham' has been a huge hit for the club, and won five Emmy Awards in the 2023 edition of the televisual awards ceremony.

News of the investment in Necaxa has sparked rumours over whether a similar type of programme could be created around the Mexican side, but Variety have said that talks of this are: "premature."

Club Necaxa presents a different challenge for Reynolds and McElhenney

Unlike their Welsh team, their reported new club has been a mainstay in their respective top division for a long time. They won the Primera División twice in the 1990s, and have won the CONCACAF Champions' Cup on two occasions (1975 and 1999).

They will immediately be competing with the biggest teams in the nation, like Club America, Chivas and others, as opposed to starting from the bottom and working their way up.

Necaxa finished ninth in the Liga MX Clausura, and are set to play their play-in match against Queretaro on Friday; the winner of which will advance to the next stage of the competition.

Reynolds and McElhenney won't just be able to flaunt their deep pockets immediately and rise to the top. Necaxa will be more of a project for them, it seems.

They only have a minority stake, so they won't be the ultimate decision makers. But, even if they were, this wouldn't be a situation like they had with Wrexham where they could simply out muscle those around them. Necaxa will require a different approach.