When you buy through affiliate links in our content, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Learn Season 3 of Welcome to Wrexham premieres on May 2nd, 2024 on FX, with the League Two journey of Wrexham AFC (not Wrexham FC) available for streaming on Hulu (United States) and Disney+ (United Kingdom) the following day.
While the story so far has been completely Hollywood, many wonder if their success can be sustainable. Today, we’re going to look at the huge financial implications of getting this far for the club and its celebrity owners.
What was Wrexham AFC Worth Before it was Bought by Ryan Reynolds & Rob McElhenney?
Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney bought Wrexham AFC (commonly mistaken as Wrexham FC) for £2m ($2.5 million).
Despite the two knowing almost nothing about soccer, let alone how to own and run a club, the deal was done between November 2020 and February 2021, when the club were still playing in the Vanarama National League, England’s fifth tier.
Thanks to their Welcome to Wrexham documentary success, sponsorship deals, and the growing popularity of the club, Wrexham AFC is now in a much more stable financial position.
Speaking at Australia’s SportNXT conference in March, Wrexham’s director Shaun Harvey said: “It is worth noting [that] it is an investment that has paid off. [The club is] now worth £9m.”
The success has not just been financial, they have grown fandom that will surely last for decades to come.
“The social media growth has been astronomical from 2020 to 2024, seeing an increase from 152,000 [followers] to 3,981,747 across all platforms,” Harvey continued.
“Ultimately, it was exposure, the spotlight that had been shone and all of a sudden, everybody wanted to see what was going on.
“We successfully managed the football club in the town for the local community and built everything else around it. It remained relatable.”
How Much have Reynolds & McElhenney Spent on Wrexham?
The Hollywood stars bought the club in November 2020 for just £2m ($2.5m). However, the duo have spent far more money than that to bring the club to where it is today.
As of last year, it was revealed in “Welcome to Wrexham” that the pair had lost about £10m ($12m), a figure that made Reynolds “want to throw up.” This figure includes a whopping £3.67m ($4.6m) to repurchase the club’s Racecourse Ground.
The two have also spent a boatload on wages, with their wage bill setting the all-time non-League record upon their takeover.
This past season, according to Salary Sport, their wage bill exceeded £5m ($6.27m), more than two-and-a-half times the League Two average of £2m ($2.5m). More on wages in future sections.
Wrexham AFC Sponsors
Due to the newfound popularity of the club, sponsorship deals have come in from seemingly everywhere.
The Athletic claims that Wrexham AFC made between £7m-£10m ($8.75m-$12.5m) this past year through sponsorship deals. SToK Coffee Brew bought the naming rights to the stadium while tech giants HP became the club’s official Global Technology Partner.
United Airlines was the club’s shirt sponsor this past season, replacing TikTok. It hasn’t been all change, though, Wrexham’s Official Kit Supplier, Macron, has been with the club since 2016.
How Much do Wrexham Players Earn?
According to Salary Sport, Wrexham AFC’s total player salary bill was £5,221,320 ($6.5m) during the 2023/24 season, making Wrexham’s wage bill £100,410 ($126,000) per week.
This ranks far, far above the average wage bill for League Two sides and is more than what three Championship clubs pay their players as well as 16 of the 24 current League One teams.
Though Wrexham’s players won’t reach anything like Leo Messi’s net worth, they earn a great salary for what they do.
The club pays a total of 55 players, including their academy athletes, with George Evans earning £7,200 ($9,000) per week and £374,400 ($469,000) annually topping the list.
Wrexham star forward and leading goal-scorer Paul Mullin ranks seventh on their wage bill, raking in a solid £4,800 ($6,000) per week and £249,600 ($312,000) per year.
How Much does Wrexham Earn from Hulu & Disney+?
Welcome to Wrexham has been wildly successful and several estimates, as of January 2023, claimed that the documentary has allowed Disney to earn £430,000 ($540,000) per episode. However, the club itself has reportedly not earned a penny from the show, not directly at least.
Even without directly earning money from the wildly successful series Wrexham shirts are sold all over the world and people fly in from faraway countries in order to watch the club play. The team sells out matches both home and away and merchandise sales are through the roof.
With sold-out games comes increased concession sales and other fringe benefits, Welcome to Wrexham has certainly helped the club financially, even if they don’t make money directly from Disney.
When is Welcome to Wrexham Season 3 Released?
Welcome to Wrexham season 3 episodes air on FX each Thursday at 10pm EST/PST. Episodes stream the next day on Hulu in the United States and on Disney+ in the United Kingdom.
The season premiere takes place on television on May 2nd, 2024, with the season finale airing on June 13th.
What League is Wrexham In? *SPOILER ALERT*
Do NOT read the last three sections of this page if you are not privy to this information and would like to watch the series without knowing how Wrexham’s season ends.
Wrexham AFC began the season in English Football League Two (also known as League Two or Sky Bet League Two), which is the fourth division of soccer in the English football league system. The club won’t feature in Champions League betting markets any time soon, but it’s a long way from where the club was in 2020.
Wrexham earned automatic promotion last season from the Vanarama National League, winning the 24-team league accumulating 111 points in 46 games to win the overall league title.
They were one of two teams promoted to League Two along with Notts County, who needed to navigate the National League playoffs in order to move back into the Football League.
Remarkably, Wrexham’s standings at the end of the 2023-24 League Two put them in second place on 88 points, only behind champions Stockport County.
Wrexham AFC were one of three teams to earn automatic promotion to League One, the third tier of English football, along with the champions and Mansfield Town, who finished third.
MK Dons, Doncaster Rovers, Crewe Alexandra, and Crawley Town will feature in a four-team playoff to determine the fourth club promoted to League One.
Wrexham Standings
Wrexham’s standings in League Two was always strong in the 2023/24 season.
The final standings and of the seven clubs in the promotion and playoff places looked like this:
| Standing | Club | Result |
| 1 | Stockport | Automatically promoted |
| 2 | Wrexham | Automatically promoted |
| 3 | Mansfield Town | Automatically promoted |
| 4 | MK Dons | Playoff |
| 5 | Doncaster | Playoff |
| 6 | Crewe Alexandra | Playoff |
| 7 | Crawley Town | Playoff |
Wrexham Promotion Odds
Despite being a newly-promoted side, the heavy investment into the club made Wrexham the preseason favorites for promotion this past season, with most bookies giving odds between 1.80 (-125) and 1.90 (-111).
Most bookmakers, including BetOnline, also made Wrexham 4.50 (+350) favorites to win League Two, though it was second-favorites Stockport County at 7.00 (+600) that ultimately got the job done.
As far as the 2024-25 season goes, futures betting markets for promotion to the Championship will not be released until all the League One clubs have been determined. Whoever ends up in the league with them, though, Wrexham’s standing at the beginning of the season will be zero, and the journey starts again.
We must also wait for the results of the League Two playoffs to confirm the final promoted side as well as the final week of the Championship season to see which three teams are relegated into League One. Rotherham United will definitely be one of them while five other clubs will be desperate to avoid the drop on the final day.
Why is it Wrexham AFC, not Wrexham FC?
You’ve come this far, so we might as well tell you why it’s called Wrexham AFC, not Wrexham FC.
Wrexham AFC stands for Wrexham Association Football Club. AFC was used back in the early days of professional soccer to distinguish “Association Football” from “Rugby Football” which was an remains an entirely different sport. It’s just called rugby these days.
FAQs
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References
- https://www.theguardian.com/football/2024/may/01/wrexham-racecourse-ground-rob-mcelhenney-ryan-reynolds (The Guardian)
- https://theathletic.com/5460231/2024/04/30/championship-permuations-promotion-play-offs-relegation/ (The Athletic)
- https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2024/04/30/welcome-to-wrexham-season-3/73516450007/ (USA Today)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oldest_football_clubs (Wikipedia)
