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When Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac revealed their intention to buy Wrexham, they said they wanted to realise the non-league club’s “fantastic potential”. Perhaps even they couldn’t have envisaged the journey the Red Dragons would be on under their ownership.
Few takeovers in English soccer have delivered such immediate impact. Wrexham now find themselves in the second tier after three consecutive promotions, boast a global profile and have been valued at hundreds of millions of dollars.
It’s a remarkable rags-to-riches story that looks set to continue as the Welsh club chases promotion to the Premier League this season. To mark five years of Reynolds and Mac’s ownership, SportsPro picks out five major moments from their time at Wrexham.
The takeover
Reynolds, best known for playing the fourth-wall-breaking Marvel superhero Deadpool, and Mac, star of US sitcom ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’, put forward their vision for Wrexham in September 2020 after receiving approval from the club’s supporters trust. The idea to buy a lower-league team in the English soccer pyramid was Mac’s, who became hooked after the Netflix docuseries ‘Sunderland ‘Til I Die’.
With Wrexham identified as a potential option, Reynolds was then brought in to add extra financial muscle to the bid, which saw an initial UK£2 million (US$2.7 million) injected into the club once the Wrexham Supporters Trust had given its blessing to sell the team to the pair for just UK£1 (US$1.40).
Stripped back, the new owners’ initial objectives were to protect Wrexham’s heritage, reinforce the values of the community, grow the club at home and abroad, and create a winning habit.
The Red Dragons fell agonisingly short of promotion in their first season under Reynolds and Mac, losing in the play-off semi-final. The following campaign, however, saw Wrexham win the National League title, sealing promotion back to the English Football League (EFL) for the first time since 2008.
United Airlines is among the big-name brands to sponsor Wrexham (Image credit: Getty Images)
Docuseries brings global exposure
Wrexham’s rise has been charted in the Emmy-award-winning docuseries ‘Welcome to Wrexham’. The show was sold to Disney-owned FX by Mac before he and Reynolds had even completed their takeover of the club.
The docuseries’ blend of sport, community and entertainment reframed Wrexham’s story for a global audience. With Reynolds and Mac fronting proceedings, it lifted the lid on club ownership and made the emotional stakes of lower-league soccer accessible to fans far beyond the UK.
The impact has been tangible off the pitch, with Wrexham seeing a surge in international sponsorship interest, merchandise sales and digital engagement. Indeed, the docuseries has been such an effective marketing tool that the club’s story is now a case study in modern brand growth.
Sponsorship spree
Wrexham’s partnership portfolio while still in the fifth tier wouldn’t have looked totally out of place at a Premier League club. Commercial agreements were struck with the likes of TikTok and Expedia, alongside Aviation American Gin – the brand later sold by Reynolds to Diageo in August 2020 as part of a deal worth up to US$610 million.
United Airlines, which has partnerships with teams spanning the National Basketball Association (NBA), the National Hockey League (NHL) and the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), has been Wrexham’s front-of-shirt sponsor since their return to the EFL. The club’s current list of partners includes global brands such as HP, Meta Quest and Gatorade.
While Reynolds and Mac, plus a Disney-documented journey, were the primary draw for sponsors in the early days, Wrexham director Shaun Harvey told SportsPro shortly after promotion from the National League that the club itself had become the main asset.
“What we’ve managed to do because of the documentary is to change that dynamic,” said Harvey. “It’s now about being associated with the football club that’s also on the documentary.”
Criticism for stadium grants
Reynolds and Mac’s transformation of Wrexham has extended to the club’s home ground, now known as the SToK Cae Ras following a naming rights deal with SToK Cold Brew Coffee.
The stadium has undergone extensive renovations, with plans now in place for a new 5,500-capacity stand. To help fund the development, the club was awarded UK£18 million (US$24.6 million) in public money, a decision that was defended by Wrexham council and the Welsh government last year.
The non-repayable grants were criticised due to Wrexham’s wealthy ownership and the use of public funds to support a private entity. The club has stated that the funding forms part of the wider Wrexham Gateway Project and regional regeneration plans, adding that the upgraded stadium will be capable of hosting international sporting events, creating jobs and delivering economic uplift to the area by attracting visitors.
External investment
Wrexham’s march through the divisions and ambition of reaching the Premier League has necessitated bringing in additional shareholders, with each new investor underlining just how rapidly the club’s value has risen.
When the New York-based Allyn family acquired a near-15 per cent stake in October 2024, Wrexham were valued at roughly UK£100 million (US$136 million). By December 2025, the club’s valuation had been pegged at around UK£350 million (US$478 million) when Apollo Sports Capital (ASC) took a minority stake of less than ten per cent.
It marked a striking uplift from Reynolds and Mac’s initial outlay back in February 2021. For comparison, the December 2024 takeover at Sheffield United, a Premier League club as recently as 2024, valued the Blades at approximately UK£100 million.
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