Wrexham’s progress through the lower leagues of English football was played out in front of fans thanks to a Disney film Welcome to Wrexham documentary series. Money is a common theme on the show, usually framed by the amounts required to achieve one job or another.
Rob McElhenney AND Ryan Reynolds have completed the takeover Wrexham in 2021. With their first managerial appointment, Phil Parkinson, the Hollywood duo led the ailing Red Dragons team from the National League to League One.
As they find themselves just outside the top two places that would have earned them a historic third successive promotion, a financial expert has crunched the numbers to estimate how much Wrexham’s advantage will cost and how much of the money involved is an investment by the club’s owners.
The amount spent by McElhenney and Reynolds is subject to speculation. One of the reasons the acquisition worked so well is the owners’ expertise when it comes to sponsorship and marketing, but financial expert Kieran Maguire estimates that the amount of direct investment is significant.
I keep talking the The price of football podcastMaguire presented calculations that showed how much McElhenney and Reynolds could have invested to first enable and then supplement the club’s rapidly growing revenues, which stood at £10.5m in 2023.
“Reynolds and McElhenney acquired the club in November 2020. Between this season and 2023, which is actually two and a half years, they lost £8 million, despite all the benefits of globalizing the brand and having international sponsors,” Maguire said.
“In terms of putting money into the club, I think you can probably at least double that, so overall it will probably be lower in the £18m to £20m range.”
The owners invested £2 million immediately after taking over Wrexham and loaned the club several million pounds, as well as working to purchase and upgrade the racecourse.
It’s all money well spent. If Wrexham manage to progress to the Championship, the success of the project will exceed all expectations. It would also become much more expensive overnight, which makes the club’s future particularly exciting.
Either way, the financial blow should benefit Reynolds and McElhenney in the long run. Maguire expects the losses to be recouped in the event of any future sale of the club – provided a star power pair is part of the deal.
“If I wanted to buy Wrexham Football Club, I would prefer to do so if Reynolds and McElhenney were involved in a five-year deal as they are part of the Wrexham brand.”
