Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney bought Wrexham AFC, a tiny Welsh football club, for about £2 million ($2.6 million) back in 2021. It’s now worth around £100 million.
The new valuation follows the purchase in recent months of a near-15% stake by the Allyn family from New York, according to people familiar with the situation. The Allyns, who made their fortune in medical devices, made a series of share purchases at a valuation that’s about 50 times higher than when the actors took over the club, the people said, asking not to be identified because the details are private.
Wrexham AFC and the Allyn family haven’t disclosed the price. The club declined to comment, while the Allyns could not be reached for comment.
Wrexham AFC is a rare example of well-known US investors succeeding in turning around the fortunes of an English football club. Reynolds and McElhenney bought the team in Feb. 2021 when it was in the fifth tier of English football and when prices were at rock bottom following the pandemic, which prevented fans from attending matches for nearly two seasons.
The actors have since injected more than $11 million into the team, but also gave it a global fanbase and higher revenue thanks in part to the popularity of the Disney+ TV series Welcome to Wrexham.
The Wrexham owners have been astute in leveraging their Hollywood background and securing lucrative commercial deals, even when in the fifth tier of English football, according to Christina Philippou, associate professor in accounting and sport finance at the University of Portsmouth. “But generally football is not financially sustainable,” she said.
The team also succeeded on the field. After a series of promotions, Wrexham is currently near the top of the third tier, with a chance of getting promoted to the Championship, one rung below the Premier League.
Despite the lofty valuation, Wrexham is still a small club. In the coming weeks, it will reveal that revenue for its last financial year more than doubled to over £20 million.
The latest deals therefore value Wrexham at around five times revenue, the same multiple as Premier League team Chelsea FC, which was bought in 2022 for £2.5 billion.
Last year, Wrexham appointed sports architect Populous to redesign its stadium, which currently holds 13,000 spectators. The initial focus is on a new 5,500 capacity stand.