Getty Image
After building Wrexham AFC into a football club that has achieved consecutive promotions, owner Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have invested in another football club: Club Necaxa in Mexico.
Club Necaxa was founded in 1923 and is located in Aguascalientes, Mexico. Among the club’s investors is also actress Eva Longoria.
According to Variety‘s report, it was Longoria who recruited Reynolds and McElhenney to join the ownership group, likely due to their success with Wrexham.
Since purchasing the club in 2021 for $2.5 million, the investment from the pair has not only helped it rise out of the National League — the fifth tier in the English football pyramid, which is considered to be “non-league football” — to playing in League One next season, the third tier of the pyramid, but it’s helped turn Wrexham into an international brand.
“The pair will work with Longoria and fellow investors Al Tylis and Sam Porter to enhance Club Necaxa’s standing and grow its profile in international sports circles at a time of heightened TV and streaming demand for soccer content,” Variety reports.
“It’s unclear what role they will play in the leadership of Club Necaxa… . The size of the R.R. McReynolds’ (the pair’s holding company) stake is unclear. It’s a minority interest but said by a source close to the deal to be of ‘significant’ size.”
Club Necaxa competes in Liga MX, the top division in Mexican football, and is a midtable team, as they sit in 9th at the time of this writing.
An interesting dynamic in this all will be the reaction of the Wrexham fans, who might have mixed feelings about their owners’ attentions being diverted elsewhere as the club prepares for life in League One, which is just two divisions below the Premier League, which is the club’s ultimate goal.
Given the commitment, passion, and professionalism that the pair have shown since becoming owners in 2021, it’s likely the fan base will give Reynolds and McElhenney the benefit of the doubt.