Few clubs have changed as quickly as Wrexham AFC. Since Rob Mac and Ryan Reynolds completed their takeover in 2021, the club have achieved three consecutive promotions, rising from the National League to the Championship, while the documentary series “Welcome to Wrexham” has taken the club and city to a global audience. Last season, Wrexham came close to reaching the Championship play-offs, with promotion to the Premier League remaining the club’s ultimate ambition.
That transformation has also been reflected off the pitch. Wrexham generated record revenue of £33.3 million in 2024/25, more than three times the figure recorded two years earlier, as the club continue to build the organisation and commercial foundations needed to match their growing profile and ambitions.
In this interview, Football Benchmark speaks with Rob Faulkner, Wrexham AFC’s Chief Business and Communications Officer, about managing growth at an unusual pace, converting global attention into sustainable revenue, investing in infrastructure, and planning for the next stage of the club’s development.
Since the takeover, Wrexham have attracted extraordinary global attention through their ownership and the success of the documentary series, while also achieving significant success on the pitch. From a business and organisational perspective, what have been the most important changes required to keep pace with that growth?
The sporting success creates its own pressures. We went from the National League to League Two, League One and then the Championship in three seasons. That was always the objective from the club and ownership's point of view but every promotion has required us to invest again in the playing squad because the level of competition becomes harder.
When we were in the National League or League Two, the success of the documentary and the visibility it created gave us a significant commercial advantage. It helped us bring in revenues that were unusual at that level, particularly through sponsorship and our reach in the US. As we have moved through the divisions, the gap between those commercial revenues and the costs of the football operation has narrowed because player wages and the overall cost base rise.
The organisation has therefore had to develop at the same time. We have invested in both playing and non-playing staff and brought more functions and expertise into the club. We also have to plan within the relevant financial regulations at each level. The objective is to keep growing revenues so that we can continue to invest in the football side and compete as strongly as possible but in a way that remains compliant and sustainable.
The club’s revenue has increased from £10.5 million in 2022/23 to £33.3 million in 2024/25. How has the revenue mix evolved over that period and where do you see the greatest potential for further growth?
If you look at our latest published figures, covering the 2024/25 season in League One, revenue was £33.3 million. Sponsorship revenue accounted for £17.3 million of that, so slightly more than half of the total. The previous season, when we were in League Two, revenue was £26.7 million and sponsorship revenue was £13.2 million. Commercial income has therefore represented a very significant proportion of our revenue throughout this period. The visibility created by the documentary, particularly in the US, has allowed us to perform above what would normally be expected commercially.
Ticketing is slightly different. Our ticketing revenue, particularly now that we are in the Championship, is probably lower than at some other clubs. We have kept ticket prices relatively low, while the size of the ground has also limited how many supporters we can accommodate. During our League One season, capacity was just over 13,000 with the temporary stand in place. However, when construction of the new Kop began, that stand had to be removed and capacity fell to around 10,500. Ironically, we were promoted to the Championship at the same time our capacity fell.
Retail and licensing are another important part of the revenue mix. Retail revenue increased to £5.1 million in our League One season. Previously, we sold almost everything through the club shop at the Racecourse Ground. We have since retained that shop while opening a larger store in the centre of Wrexham and our agreement with Macron has given us much broader international distribution.
For example, when we toured Australia and New Zealand, our kits were available locally. During our latest US tour, we played the opening matches in our second kit before launching the home kit in New York, including in Times Square and at Nasdaq. They were also available at Pelé Soccer in Times Square and Dick’s Sporting Goods across the US. That distribution is helping us to connect with supporters internationally as the club’s global following grows.
We are growing across all of those areas but commercial income is where we have particularly punched above our weight. That growth is not necessarily slowing as we move higher but the gap becomes smaller because the Championship is a different financial environment and the cost of the playing squad increases significantly. The challenge is to maintain and maximise that commercial advantage as the club continues to progress.
Wrexham has now built a social media audience of approximately 5 million followers, comparable to that of some Premier League clubs. How do you translate that international reach into tangible commercial opportunities and longer-term value for the club?
That is something we are really working on now. We have built a large following in the US through the documentary. Many of those supporters are relatively new to Wrexham but they are incredibly loyal. They follow the club closely, know the players through the series and, in many cases, travel to Wrexham to visit the town, experience Wales, see the stadium and try to attend a match.
The difficulty has been our capacity and the limited number of tickets we can offer them. We reserve a small allocation because we know international supporters are making the journey and want to accommodate them where possible. Our membership structure is an important part of maintaining that relationship. We have different membership tiers, including options designed for international supporters, which provide access to content and opportunities to purchase tickets. Because supporters in the US and elsewhere cannot attend matches regularly, we use news, content, membership, and retail to keep them informed and connected to the club through our wider digital ecosystem.
When the new Kop is open and we have more capacity, there will be opportunities to develop the offer further. That could include weekend packages, stadium tours, and other experiences for supporters travelling to Wrexham. Until then, we have to balance the demand from our international audience with the needs of the local supporters who have followed the club for many years. It is a good problem to have but finding that balance is extremely important. We have to recognise and protect the interests of our local supporters, including those who attend regularly and travel with the team away from home.
Speaking of the redevelopment of the Kop and infrastructure development more generally, there is evidently an opportunity to increase capacity given the level of demand, while clubs across all levels of the game are investing in their facilities to create new matchday and commercial opportunities. How do you balance that opportunity with ensuring the club remains accessible and inclusive of the supporters who have followed Wrexham for many years?
It is something we talk about a lot at the club. When Michael Williamson joined as CEO, we refreshed our mission statement and a central part of that is maintaining the club’s connection with the local community and not forgetting where we have come from.
There is an unusual balance at Wrexham AFC. On one side, we have two Hollywood actors as owners and this extraordinary global visibility. On the other, we have local supporters who were following the club around the country in the National League. The documentary has been successful because it shows how important the club is to the community and shines a light on the people within it. The story is not only about the club’s sporting success. It also reflects the development of Wrexham as a city and those two journeys are closely connected.
The redevelopment of the Kop is therefore about much more than the football club or simply adding seats. It forms part of the wider project, with the local council also investing in the infrastructure around that area of the city. The stadium is one of the first things people see when they arrive in Wrexham, and watching the new stand rise has become a physical manifestation of what the owners and the club are trying to achieve alongside the city.
For the club, the new stand will unlock a number of practical opportunities. It will provide space for sporting and media facilities, hospitality, general admission seating, and concessions. It should also allow us to reconfigure other parts of the Racecourse Ground. It is a jigsaw puzzle, with each development creating possibilities in another part of the stadium.
That can lead to further revenue opportunities through hospitality, concessions, ticketing, and stadium tours. International supporters already come to the Racecourse Ground, visit The Turf [local pub featured in the documentary series] and go to the club shop, and many of them ask to see the dressing room and the other areas they recognise from the documentary.
We haven't always been able to offer stadium tours because the players were still using those facilities before and after training. They would change at the stadium, travel to the training ground and then return for showers, rehabilitation and other post-training work. It creates an opportunity to use the stadium differently going forward.
The Premier League would represent a significant financial step change for the club. Last season, the possibility of getting into the play-offs went down to the wire. How do you plan for the following financial year when the club’s league status, and therefore expected revenues and costs, are so uncertain? How did you manage that process this summer?
That is one of the biggest variables for any football club. The difference between the Premier League and the Championship in terms of media income is enormous, while promotion also brings a significant change in costs, particularly through player salaries and bonuses.
We manage that through scenario planning. Most of our commercial agreements run for two or three years and can include changes depending on which division we are in, so we have visibility over an important part of the revenue base. We then build different scenarios around league distributions, make conservative assumptions about cup income and assess the level of investment we can make while remaining within the relevant financial regulations.
This summer was particularly challenging because several major sponsorship agreements reached the end of their cycles at the same time. We therefore worked with Rob and Ryan’s respective marketing agencies, More Better and Maximum Effort, to secure new shirt partners. Ultimately, we prepare the different projections, discuss them with the board and agree on our strategy from there.
Wrexham’s journey has become one of football’s most recognisable stories in recent years. What would the next chapter ideally look like from a business perspective and what major challenges are you focusing on?
The stadium is central because it unlocks so many other areas of growth but the next chapter is broader than one project. It is about continuing to professionalise the football operation, developing the academy and the women's team, and building a commercial model capable of supporting the club at a higher level.
The club has to develop as a complete football organisation. We are continuing to invest in professionalising the first-team facilities. We are also investing in the women's team. The Rock is now their home ground, and qualifying for the UEFA Women's Champions League for the first time was an important step. We want to build the team and the infrastructure around it. The academy is another priority. Investment at Darland and the development of the player pathway should help us bring young players through more effectively and reduce the gap between academy football and the first team. The arrival of Steve Nickson as sporting director adds considerable experience in that area.
Off the pitch, the renewal of “Welcome to Wrexham” for another three seasons gives us visibility and allows us to plan. It offers a unique platform for our commercial partners and an important way of engaging our international audience. Our summer tours are part of that as well. We have now visited the US three times, as well as Australia and New Zealand, and are already considering where we go next.
We need to keep finding innovative ways to create content, develop retail and licensing, grow membership, and engage supporters around the world. The important thing is that commercial growth continues to support the football club and that the local community stays at the heart of it. That balance is what has made Wrexham's story distinctive and it has to remain central to what comes next.
