Wrexham takeover

So it looks like the Hollywood actors takeover of Wrexham is going ahead.
It'll be interesting to see how this one goes.

'They've offered me a part in a cowboy film!'  


https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/football/54967950

Quoted from promotion plaice

So it looks like the Hollywood actors takeover of Wrexham is going ahead.
It'll be interesting to see how this one goes.

'They've offered me a part in a cowboy film!'  

That would seem to be quite apt.  

I am only joking of course PP.  

Good news for them, I hope it works out for them as they’re a good club with a good fan base and it would be good to see Shaun lead them to success.

I've never heard of these hollywood stars, but I don't really do celebs. Although I did meet John Mcdermott once, and I declined the opportunity to speak to Paul Futcher as I was too star struck.

Quoted from fishboyUTM

I've never heard of these hollywood stars, but I don't really do celebs. Although I did meet John Mcdermott once, and I declined the opportunity to speak to Paul Futcher as I was too star struck.

No, me neither. I don't hold with trusts losing control of their clubs.

Hope it works out but I wouldn't get overly excited if I was a Wrexham fan. Not sure what their motives are for buying the club but guess it'll become clear soon

Quoted from KingstonMariner

No, me neither. I don't hold with trusts losing control of their clubs.

The Wrexham Trust and those on its board lost the support of many of the fans some time ago.

Quoted from arryarryarry

The Wrexham Trust and those on its board lost the support of many of the fans some time ago.

Wonder why

"The fifth-tier club will star in a documentary to chart their rise under the actors."

No pressure then.

Our parcelforce delivery guy is a Wrexham, and he's over the moon with it. They've pledged that club will not be moved out of the town, renamed or otherwise copulated about with.

With their money, they should do alright, but they'll also add bums to seats (when they're allowed back in). Not forgetting the extra pull thus will have with advertisers. Ifor Williams must be over the moon with the coverage this has gotten them. Plus they'll pull in a few foreign fans. [url]https://youtu.be/WNYJW9GiX7I[/url]

We need to have a word with his "rival" Hugh Jackman, and see if he'll buy into Town. Although we'd probably do a deal with Disney and still be a mickey mouse outfit

Reynolds is worth some serious coin.  He's got his fingers in a hell of a lot of pies, big corporate global brands.  

We've all seen and, probably fear, someone come into a football club with big promises but with an underlying ambition to asset strip and sell the ground for land.

Equally so we've seen high profile owners and directors attach themselves to clubs with a generally appalling rate of failure.  

But I can't fathom for the life of with why these two would want to invest in Wrexham other than just for the shits and giggles of it.  For someone of Reynolds' fortune and schedule, it would make no real sense to invest with a view to a asset strip a Conference side.  Wrexham University own the Racecouse Ground with the club itself (through the Supporters Trust) leasing it, about 95 years left to run on it.  So that's a no-go in terms of selling for land, but even if it was an option it would be small fry for someone like Reynolds.  

Yeah, there's a documentary in the pipeline but I doubt that was a main motivator to buy the club.  Could have easily dangled a decent size cheque in front of any club to make a documentary series.

Maybe, just maybe, they're decent people who, for whatever reason, became aware of the club and just want to do something nice.  

I believe he has Welsh ancestry and wants to give something back to Wales. It turns out that he was related to Gruffydd Ap Llywelyn who was a Welsh king and a firm favorite of Harold . As you know Gruffydd iron was supposed to be the best for making armoured head gear and was manufactured secretly just outside Wrexham La Nydd. Gruffydd was poisoned in 1063 by chap from Normandy and from then on the quality of Gruffydd iron deteriated. This was the reason that Harolds head gear failed and he succumbed to a lucky arrow from the French longbow.  He now is in a position to try to make amends .

I don't think there's a sinister motive behind this for a moment; neither Reynolds nor McElhenney have anything to gain by going in and 'asset stripping' Wrexham. As a business, they barely have any assets worth stripping anyway.

At the same time, I don't think this is about altruism either - if they wanted to be altruistic there are many worthier causes out there in the world (especially in these times) than Wrexham AFC. It's business, it's about money. So, how do you go about making money out of an unfashionable non-league football club from Wales?

The answer is, most people don't. But Ryan Reynolds and and Rob McElhenney aren't 'most people'; they're Hollywood movie stars. And whether you as an individual have heard of them or not, they have huge profiles globally.

And here's the key. All this comes at a time when the value of streamable TV content is rising exponentially, hence the recent explosion of football documentaries on the likes of Netflix and Amazon Prime. Such shows have been known to fetch upwards of £500k per episode. And what you've got here is a story not only incredibly intriguing to British football fans, but also to the massive potential audiences in the US and beyond who will be drawn to it for no other reason than who is involved. As a TV series, don't underestimate the massive, lucrative potential this story has.

In effect, what Reynolds and co. have done is taken the club off the hands of the supporter's trust for nothing, on the back of a pledge to invest £2m - money they will quickly earn back for the reasons above.

Managed correctly, I reckon this idea has the potential to easily self-fund Wrexham all the way to the Championship, where at the very least they have an asset worth significantly more than any net investment up to that point. At that point, I suspect they may seek further outside investment with a view to take Wrexham into the top flight, at which point the club is literally worth hundreds of millions. The story is complete, and they búgger off even wealthier than when they arrived having increased their own profile and had a few laughs along the way.

I personally think it's quite clever, and of course it only works because of the profile of the investors, but I think this actually amounts to a very low risk investment with incredibly high potential thanks to the unique parameters involved - fame, the current high value of streaming content, the cash cow that is the Premier League.

Whether this ultimately amounts to being a good thing for Wrexham fans in the long-term is debatable, because when you boil it all down this is not about 'them'. Like seemingly everything in football these days, it's about making money, creating personal wealth. No amount of Hollywood charisma can obscure that fact.

Quoted from diehardmariner

Reynolds is worth some serious coin.  He's got his fingers in a hell of a lot of pies, big corporate global brands.  

We've all seen and, probably fear, someone come into a football club with big promises but with an underlying ambition to asset strip and sell the ground for land.

Equally so we've seen high profile owners and directors attach themselves to clubs with a generally appalling rate of failure.  

But I can't fathom for the life of with why these two would want to invest in Wrexham other than just for the shits and giggles of it.  For someone of Reynolds' fortune and schedule, it would make no real sense to invest with a view to a asset strip a Conference side.  Wrexham University own the Racecouse Ground with the club itself (through the Supporters Trust) leasing it, about 95 years left to run on it.  So that's a no-go in terms of selling for land, but even if it was an option it would be small fry for someone like Reynolds.  

Yeah, there's a documentary in the pipeline but I doubt that was a main motivator to buy the club.  Could have easily dangled a decent size cheque in front of any club to make a documentary series.

Maybe, just maybe, they're decent people who, for whatever reason, became aware of the club and just want to do something nice.  

Reynolds has a gin brand Aviator, it’s not half bad as well 🍸

Local lottery winner showing interest in buying out GTFC. Just seen him staggering down Cleethorpe Road with his winnings in his hand. The problem for him is that all the pubs are shut, so he is wondering what he can do with his £140 for the 4 numbers he got up on Saturday.

Quoted from Poojah

I don't think there's a sinister motive behind this for a moment; neither Reynolds nor McElhenney have anything to gain by going in and 'asset stripping' Wrexham. As a business, they barely have any assets worth stripping anyway.

At the same time, I don't think this is about altruism either - if they wanted to be altruistic there are many worthier causes out there in the world (especially in these times) than Wrexham AFC. It's business, it's about money. So, how do you go about making money out of an unfashionable non-league football club from Wales?

The answer is, most people don't. But Ryan Reynolds and and Rob McElhenney aren't 'most people'; they're Hollywood movie stars. And whether you as an individual have heard of them or not, they have huge profiles globally.

And here's the key. All this comes at a time when the value of streamable TV content is rising exponentially, hence the recent explosion of football documentaries on the likes of Netflix and Amazon Prime. Such shows have been known to fetch upwards of £500k per episode. And what you've got here is a story not only incredibly intriguing to British football fans, but also to the massive potential audiences in the US and beyond who will be drawn to it for no other reason than who is involved. As a TV series, don't underestimate the massive, lucrative potential this story has.

In effect, what Reynolds and co. have done is taken the club off the hands of the supporter's trust for nothing, on the back of a pledge to invest £2m - money they will quickly earn back for the reasons above.

Managed correctly, I reckon this idea has the potential to easily self-fund Wrexham all the way to the Championship, where at the very least they have an asset worth significantly more than any net investment up to that point. At that point, I suspect they may seek further outside investment with a view to take Wrexham into the top flight, at which point the club is literally worth hundreds of millions. The story is complete, and they búgger off even wealthier than when they arrived having increased their own profile and had a few laughs along the way.

I personally think it's quite clever, and of course it only works because of the profile of the investors, but I think this actually amounts to a very low risk investment with incredibly high potential thanks to the unique parameters involved - fame, the current high value of streaming content, the cash cow that is the Premier League.

Whether this ultimately amounts to being a good thing for Wrexham fans in the long-term is debatable, because when you boil it all down this is not about 'them'. Like seemingly everything in football these days, it's about making money, creating personal wealth. No amount of Hollywood charisma can obscure that fact.

Hahaha....the naivety of such a plan....the way to run a football club is to cut corners, penny pinch and do lots of DIY jobs around the place yourself. Stupid yanks.

Quoted from moosey_club

Hahaha....the naivety of such a plan....the way to run a football club is to cut corners, penny pinch and do lots of DIY jobs around the place yourself. Stupid yanks.

You’re right but I somehow feel that Wrexham fans are going to regret this.

Quoted from Poojah

I don't think there's a sinister motive behind this for a moment; neither Reynolds nor McElhenney have anything to gain by going in and 'asset stripping' Wrexham. As a business, they barely have any assets worth stripping anyway.

At the same time, I don't think this is about altruism either - if they wanted to be altruistic there are many worthier causes out there in the world (especially in these times) than Wrexham AFC. It's business, it's about money. So, how do you go about making money out of an unfashionable non-league football club from Wales?

The answer is, most people don't. But Ryan Reynolds and and Rob McElhenney aren't 'most people'; they're Hollywood movie stars. And whether you as an individual have heard of them or not, they have huge profiles globally.

And here's the key. All this comes at a time when the value of streamable TV content is rising exponentially, hence the recent explosion of football documentaries on the likes of Netflix and Amazon Prime. Such shows have been known to fetch upwards of £500k per episode. And what you've got here is a story not only incredibly intriguing to British football fans, but also to the massive potential audiences in the US and beyond who will be drawn to it for no other reason than who is involved. As a TV series, don't underestimate the massive, lucrative potential this story has.

In effect, what Reynolds and co. have done is taken the club off the hands of the supporter's trust for nothing, on the back of a pledge to invest £2m - money they will quickly earn back for the reasons above.

Managed correctly, I reckon this idea has the potential to easily self-fund Wrexham all the way to the Championship, where at the very least they have an asset worth significantly more than any net investment up to that point. At that point, I suspect they may seek further outside investment with a view to take Wrexham into the top flight, at which point the club is literally worth hundreds of millions. The story is complete, and they búgger off even wealthier than when they arrived having increased their own profile and had a few laughs along the way.

I personally think it's quite clever, and of course it only works because of the profile of the investors, but I think this actually amounts to a very low risk investment with incredibly high potential thanks to the unique parameters involved - fame, the current high value of streaming content, the cash cow that is the Premier League.

Whether this ultimately amounts to being a good thing for Wrexham fans in the long-term is debatable, because when you boil it all down this is not about 'them'. Like seemingly everything in football these days, it's about making money, creating personal wealth. No amount of Hollywood charisma can obscure that fact.

I'm really not sure on this.  Wrexham are still a big fish in the pond that is the Conference, some limited investment and they should have little problem getting out that league.  I dare say with further momentum and investment promotion into League One isn't beyond their reach. (the likes of Mansfield may argue otherwise).  That's when it gets tougher and then once you get into the Championship it's mega, mega money to go to the next level.  You're competing with established clubs with huge financial resources (or access to them anyway).  

Wrexham as a Town only has a population of 66,000.  The county borough about 135,000, putting at a similar size to NE Lincs.  But they've also got Liverpool and Everton less than an hour away from them.  Even more TV money is only on par with other clubs in whatever league, in the Championship you're also in competition with the huge parachute payment clubs.  Gate revenue is a major income source for those without parachute payments. For context, Aston Villa generated just shy of £12million from match day revenue in the Championship in 17/18.  In the same season, Barnsley with gates of 13,000 banked less than £4million in match day income.  The Racecourse Ground has a capacity of just over 10,000.  TV Revenue in the Championship is about £2.5million a year. First year parachute payments are £40million, dropping to about £30mill in year 2 and then final year of approx. £15mill.  That's £50million difference straight away.   Even taking the gates out of the equation, they're going to be going up against at least 3 teams with TV revenue that's £37.5million a season more than what they draw in.

Don't get me wrong, Wrexham are going to be financially secure for a fair while (providing they don't spaff it up the wall) just because of the fact that people will watch the documentary and probably initially have an intrigue in the club that leads to merchandise sales.

It would take huge investment to get Wrexham to challenge to be in the Premier League, investment that I think would dwarf any revenue raised from the profile of the new owners, with no guarantee at all of them getting there.  Just don't see them doing this as a business project.

It saddens me but without major investment, I don't see clubs the size of Wrexham, Town etc. reaching the levels of the Championship for anything other than a fleeting visit.