Wrexham get paid nothing directly by FX or Disney for Welcome to Wrexham. Not a cent. And yet the documentary is probably the single most important commercial asset the club owns.
That's the paradox at the heart of Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds' project. The show doesn't generate revenue for the club — it generates the conditions in which revenue becomes possible at a scale that would have been unthinkable five years ago.
From $1.55 million to $45 million in four years
When the Hollywood duo took over, Wrexham were a non-league club turning over $1.55 million a year. In the 2024-25 season — the one that ended with promotion to the Championship — that figure hit $45.05 million. The average League One club posted around $16.91 million last year, and even that number was inflated by Wrexham and Birmingham City sitting at the top of the distribution.
Sponsorship revenue alone reached $23.46 million. A typical League One side makes roughly $2.7 million from sponsorships. Wrexham made more than eight times that, because their shirt isn't just a shirt — it's a placement inside a globally distributed streaming show watched by millions of people who don't even follow football.
United Airlines on the front. Meta Quest on the back. HP on the sleeves. Betty Buzz on the training gear. Gatorade as drinks partner. STōK Cold Brew Coffee holding the stadium naming rights. These aren't local businesses looking for regional exposure — these are global brands buying into a story.
Chris Bagnall, the founder of marketing agency Transmission, explained exactly how HP ended up involved: his team was already working with the company when a strategy meeting drifted into a conversation about Welcome to Wrexham. "The football club was one of the world's most famous challenger brands at the time," he said. "Suddenly, everything clicked." Within weeks they were arranging a meeting with Reynolds at a home game.
The numbers that are still coming
57.7% of Wrexham's revenue now comes from North America. The club posted a record $6.84 million in retail income. They sold out a preseason tour of Australia and New Zealand. Club sources are projecting turnover of around $65 million for their first Championship season — a figure that will be confirmed when next year's results drop.
For anyone trying to model Wrexham's commercial trajectory, the renewal of the show for three additional seasons before season five has even aired is the most significant data point. McElhenney put it plainly: "When Walt Disney comes out and says, 'We want to buy three more seasons of the show,' that is a pretty good indication that people are watching. That means sponsors, revenue dollars, and other fans are going to look at us and say it is not just these two clowns claiming the club is a success — it is the full weight and force of the Disney machine agreeing."
Season five premieres May 14, 2026, covering Wrexham's first Championship campaign since 1982. Whatever happens on the pitch, the commercial story writes itself either way — struggle or succeed, it's compelling television. And compelling television keeps the sponsors calling.
