Ryan Reynolds' and Rob McElhenney's Wrexham worth £50m

Leader Live

07-05-2025

Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney completed their takeover at The Racecourse in February 2021 and the club has become a global sensation due to the hit documentary series 'Welcome to Wrexham'.
There has been success on the pitch with the Reds finishing runners-up in League One this season to secure an historic third successive promotion.
Phil Parkinson's side will compete in the Championship next term and Wilson, Director of Executive Education at University Campus of Football Business, discussed the club's rise in value after reaching the second tier for the first time in 43 years.
Speaking exclusively with OLBG, Wilson said: 'What is the current value of Wrexham? I think it's important to say that the Reynolds-McElhenny factor has really kind of turbocharged, super boosted, Wrexham's brand in a way that we've not seen certainly at this level of football ever.
'From that £2.5 million purchase, I'd probably conservatively peg in a current valuation at around 40 to 50 million. I think you need to factor in the activations, commercial development, stadium size, the league that they're playing in and so on.
'Conservatively, a valuation around the 40 to 50 million mark is probably fair. That reflects their now global fan base, which naturally rivals many Championship clubs, if not most of them, but also some of the Premier League clubs as well.
'If they reach the Premier League, this is where it gets really interesting, then the valuation would probably stretch into the 250 to 300 million plus bracket. They would obviously need to invest very, very heavily.
'Competing with the Big Six is a different ballgame entirely. If you're going to do that, you need some really deep-pocketed investors and long-term infrastructure, which is what we have seen at Manchester City. We're starting to see at Newcastle United.
'We've got Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool and so on. So it's really tough to break into that bracket.
'The other thing we need to remember with Wrexham's current valuation ceiling is we do at some point need to decouple the value that Reynolds and McElhenny bring to Wrexham and look at Wrexham in its own right.
'That's why I think my valuation is probably a little bit lower than some of those that have been previously stated. But, they've got some great fundamentals in place.
'They've made a record turnover this year, 24 million. The Finance Director seems to be doing a really good job with regard to keeping costs under control and helping to work with the commercial team to leverage additional revenue and next year will be a fascinating story to see unfold.'