Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney's takeover of the underdog Welsh football team has consistently been portrayed as the ultimate Cinderella story, especially as the pair try to revive hope in a former mining town. This is especially true for Disney+ documentaries.
But the League Two club's latest financial statements are a reminder of the financial clout the actors bring to helping Wrexham consistently defeat their nearest opponents.
For the year ending June 2023, Wrexham AFC recorded a loss of £5.1m ($6.4m), a significant increase from the £2.9m ($3.7m) figure in 2022.
These losses are covered by the deep pockets of Mr. Reynolds and Mr. McElhenney. The club currently owes the pair £8.98 million (about $11.3 million), with the increase in debt over the last year representing Wrexham's losses.
“These losses have been determined to be necessary to enable the club to achieve its fullest potential in the shortest period of time practically possible,” the club said during last week's financial results. He added that there is no need to rush to repay the loan immediately.
In fact, the increase in losses is primarily the result of a significant jump in salary expenditure by the club.
Wrexham's wage bill jumped more than 70% in 2023 to £6.9 million ($8.7 million).
That's despite the club earning just £10.5 million ($13.2 million) last year.
“Movie star money”
of It's always sunny in Philadelphia The star player said he was fascinated by the pyramid format of the English football system. This pyramid format differs significantly from the franchise model practiced in American sports in that any club has the potential to advance to the top division.
However, manager McElhenney joked that he needed “movie star funding” to make his dream of leading his team up the league pyramid a reality, and asked Reynolds, who is also a highly successful entrepreneur, about the project. requested financial support.
The pair have used their star appeal and comedic talents to create viral social media videos and an Emmy Award-winning documentary series. welcome to wrexhamthey turned it into a sponsorship deal that Wrexham's rivals could only dream of.
United Airlines has become the front sponsor of Wrexham's shirts, replacing a previous deal with TikTok.
However, the revenue from these channels still appears to be significantly lower than the team's revenue.
Wrexham have signed players including star strikers Paul Mullin and Ollie Palmer from teams who play in the league two leagues above Reynolds and McElhenny's clubs.
To attract them and other players, the pair paid wages well above market rate for the National League Division Wrexham played in last season.
Opposition fans believe that despite their popular public profiles, Reynolds and McElhenny's actions are anti-competitive and more in line with the much-maligned state-sponsored operation of the English Premier League. He complains that there are.
Wrexham were promoted to League Two last year, and as the season draws to a close they are in one of the automatic promotion spots and are currently aiming for promotion back to League One.
There is some debate over the huge sums of money that have been poured into clubs in recent years, but there are growing hopes that regulation of football operations will allow clubs to become self-sufficient.
Last year, the club's revenue doubled. This was primarily due to a significant increase in retail revenue from shirt sales.
Wrexham have closed their accounts and teased that they are hoping for a better financial result towards the end of this football season. welcome to wrexham A documentary that brings the club closer to the top of the pyramid.
