Wrexham owners eyeing new investors for Premier League push

Wrexham owners, Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, are “on the lookout for new investors to back their Premier league ambitions,” according to William Turvill of the London TIMES.

Despite rising in the ranks of the English soccer pyramid to League One, the club “remains a lossmaker” for Reynolds and McElhenney, who have now “opened the door to ‘further partners’ who may wish to pump money into the club.”

Wrexham is “well placed to win entry to the Championship,” English soccer’s second tier, next month.

Reynolds and McElhenney have “ambitions to one day take Wrexham to the Premier League,” where they would face the likes of Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea. Wrexham generated revenues of $33M last season, up from $12M the previous year.

Sponsorship and advertising, which grew from $2M to $16M, “accounted for much of the growth, and more than half of turnover came from overseas.” But making money from a lower-league soccer club is “notoriously tricky.” With a wage bill that “soared” from $9M to $14M, the club last year lost $3.4M, on top of $6M the previous season.

Last October, Reynolds and McElhenney raised new cash for the company by selling a minority stake to New York’s Allyn family (London TIMES, 4/5).