Ryan Reynolds became famous as an actor but it feels like these days he’s better known as the owner of a professional soccer team. Reynolds, who owns the Wrexham AFC team with friend Rob McElhenney, had a big day recently when the team ended their season with promotion to the English Football League, and as a reward, the team is going to Las Vegas.
Wrexham forward Paul Mullin revealed during the Footballer’s Football podcast (via ESPN) that the owners of Wrexham AFC are planning to take the entire team to Las Vegas following an open-top bus procession through town that will celebrate the team’s big achievement. It’s great news for the team, maybe not for their significant others, as it sounds like only the team is going.
Still sending an entire soccer team to Las Vegas from Wales for any amount of time, isn’t cheap, but it clearly shows just how much Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney are willing to invest in the team. The pair have reportedly spent millions of dollars to improve the team since purchasing it, and based on the success the team is now showing, that’s been money well spent.
By virtue of its celebrity owners, Wrexham AFC is probably also one of the better-known professional teams in the U.S. on this side of Ted Lasso. In addition to spending money to improve the team, the pair have also raised the team’s profile through the Welcome to Wrexham documentary. The team will also be competing in a number of matches in the U.S. later this summer. I’m going to guess that whatever the team gets up to in Las Vegas won’t be filmed for TV. What happens in Vegas and all that…
And if this sort of reward is something that Wrexham AFC can expect in the future, there is plenty of opportunity for future paid vacations. Wrexham is now in the English Football League, but at the bottom of four different tiers, so there is even more promotion potential going forward.
Reynolds is clearly putting his Mint Mobile money to good use to better his other investments. Spending this sort of money is probably going to make a lot of other players interested in playing for Wrexham. And the actor is certainly in this for the long haul. Reynolds recently bought a home in Wales, not far from the Wrexham AFC stadium, so he's going to remain invested. This will just mean more trolling opportunities for Blake Lively
Reynolds is looking to expand his holdings in sports as he’s reportedly in the running to purchase the Ottawa Senators NHL team. Perhaps the players on that team will be rooting for Reynolds’ investment group to win the bid. If that team also does well under Reynolds they will likely all get some very nice benefits.
