REYNOLDS, MCELHENNEY BRING WREXHAM PLAYBOOK TO CLUB NECAXA

Actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have purchased a small minority stake in Mexican soccer team Club Necaxa, a deal that could bring many of the hallmarks of their ownership of Wrexham AFC, including an emphasis on storytelling and an unscripted docuseries.

The investment, first reported by Variety, also blends two star-studded ownership groups from two different continents. Reynolds and McElhenney bought Wrexham for $0 back in 2020. Necaxa's investors in the past few years include Mexican American actress Eva Longoria, MLB star Justin Verlander, model Kate Upton and NFL player Odell Beckham Jr.

Longoria helped bring Reynolds and McElhenney into Necaxa, Variety reported. The report says the partnership could include a docu-series about the Mexican club similar to the award-winning Welcome to Wrexham, which details the revitalization of the Welsh club. Longoria (Hyphenate Media), Reynolds (Maximum Effort) and McElhenney (More Better) all have production companies that could possibly be involved.

Representatives for both Necaxa and Wrexham didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.  

Reynolds and McElhenney have found rapid success, both on the field and off it, in their three years at Wrexham, pioneering a new style of team ownership focused heavily on creative media marketing. The club's fan base has grown dramatically, thanks in part to Welcome to Wrexham, which debuted in August 2022 on FX and Hulu in the U.S. and Disney+ in the UK. They've expanded the team's sponsorship portfolio and taken the Red Dragons into more international markets for exhibition games and preseason tours.

The club earned promotion from the U.K.'s fifth division in 2022-23, and this season won a second straight promotion to the third division. It recently reported 2022-23 financials that included revenue of $13 million up from the $2 million-$4 million range prior to their takeover (spending is also up).

Club Necaxa, which is more than 100 years old, competes in Mexico's top division. The team was valued in the low nine figures back in 2021, when a group led by Americans Al Tylis and Sam Porter bought about 50% of the franchise from the Tinajero family. Other investors joined their group later on, including a 2022 investment that valued the team north of $200 million. Reynolds and McElhenney are joining as part of that group.

Liga MX is the most-watched soccer league in the U.S. by a wide margin, outdrawing MLS, La Liga and the English Premier League, but its teams trade for much less than its MLS counterparts. Some of that is due to structural differences, primarily the fact that the league doesn't sell its commercial rights as a unified group, which allows the more popular teams such as Chivas and Club América to command most of the money in the market. There has been a push to change that structure in recent years, as well as the temporary suspension of relegation to lower leagues and a higher commitment to financial transparency.

That said, investors see an opportunity beyond the current TV viewership. Mexico, one of the 10 most populous countries in the world, has about 130 million people, and there are another 37.2 million Hispanics of Mexican origin in the U.S., according to 2021 numbers from Pew Research Center. MLS has discussed a possible merger with Liga MX in the past, and more recently launched the Leagues Cup, played annually between teams from both countries.