In 2021, few people knew about the Welsh club Wrexham AFC in the fifth division of England. Now the world knows it’s the third-oldest club in the world and has just been promoted to England’s fourth division after being bought by American actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.

Promotion to the fourth division may seem like a simple task, but just two years after the acquisition, this club, which was on the verge of bankruptcy 12 years ago, has seen seismic movements: the number of spectators at matches has increased. has doubled (almost 10,000 people regularly at fifth division matches), bought players from the top leagues to help with promotion, there is now a documentary about the club on Disney+, sales of shirts and other promotional products have exploded, TikTok has become a major sponsor and will play this summer a friendly tournament in the USA with teams such as Manchester United or Chelsea.

It’s worth looking closely at this almost overnight success, because the story behind it is also one of increasingly creative sports business models. As I already wrote in “Panorama”, football clubs use their image in various ways to increase their income. However, at Wrexham, Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenny have used their image, in addition to the money invested, to develop the club.

READ MORE ON PANORAMA.