Wrexham's Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney new stadium sponsor
Welcome to the SToK Racecourse! Wrexham’s Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney announce cold brew coffee brand as new stadium sponsor after League Two promotion
- The club is set to spend up to £18million overhauling the historic stadium
- A new 5,500-seater stand will be available for use from the 2024/25 season
- Wrexham release ELEVEN players following their promotion to League Two
Wrexham’s historic Racecourse Ground will be known as The SToK Cae Ras – or SToK Racecourse after selling the stadium’s naming rights to the American cold brew brand.
The brand’s sponsorship of the one of the world’s oldest international football stadiums is the latest brand partnership that the Welsh club has announced since their landmark promotion in April.
The League Two outfit are in the process of redeveloping the ground after co-owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney’s plans for a new 5,500-seater stand at the stadium were greenlit by Wrexham County Borough Council in November 2018.
The renovations are part of a planned £18million revamp of the club’s matchday facilities that Reynolds and McElhenney have planned since taking over the then-National League side in a £2m deal in 2021.
Reynolds and McElhenney have won widespread plaudits for their root-and-branch investment in the club since the takeover that has not paid dividends on the pitch, but helped raise the club’s profile internationally and boosted revenue streams.
Rob McElhenney (left) and Ryan Reynolds announced Wrexham’s new stadium sponsor
The ground will be known as the The STōK Cae Ras – or STōK Racecourse from July 1
The club has received substantial investment from the Hollywood co-owners, who were there to hoist the trophy aloft when Wrexham topped the National League in April
The Disney+ ‘Welcome to Wrexham’ docu-series that followed the club’s journey through their first campaign after the takeover has helped the side gain widespread recognition in the US, where Phil Parkinson’s side will play their summer tour in July.
The team will face Chelsea, LA Galaxy II, and Manchester United, as well as one other yet-to-be announced team in stadiums in North Carolina and California.
In the video announcement, Reynolds and McElhenney poked fun at the British tradition of afternoon tea, swapping their players’ refreshment for STōK cold brew coffee – when team finds out, their reaction is volcanic, with a cup thrown in disgust only narrowly misses striking the side’s National League trophy but for a save from goalkeeper Ben Foster.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=d14z7CjKajk%3Frel%3D0%26showinfo%3D1%26hl%3Den-US
But the naming rights deal is only the most recent in a string of recent contracts signed for the club, whose existing sponsors include TikTok, Aviation Gin, and Expedia.
Reynold’s wife, actress Blake Lively, is set to sponsor both the men and women’s team training kit for next season through her non-alcoholic beverage company Betty Buzz.
The company will also sponsor the hospitality suite used by the co-chairmen, and the team’s American tour, alongside SToK.
Lively has attended a number of matches during Wrexham’s promotion-winning campaign this season, which saw the club achieve a record tally of 111 points en route to sealing automatic promotion to League Two.
The players were rewarded with their efforts with an open-top bus parade through the streets of Wrexham – alongside the promotion-sealing women’s side – before jetting off to Las Vegas for an all-expenses-paid four-day holiday courtesy of the ownership.
Blake Lively has attended a number of Wrexham matches – and her company Betty Buzz will now have naming rights to the ground’s main hospitality suite
Wrexham won a record 111 points in their pursuit of League Two football in the 2022/23 season
The players were treated to an open-top bus parade to celebrate their myriad successes
Wrexham were greeted lavishly as they navigated nightclubs and pool parties during the weekend’s revelry in another nod to how the club’s profile has exploded stateside.
Reynolds and McElhenney’s investment in the club has been transformative, but their players recently made an erroneous comparison when trying to describe the scale of their owners’ commitment.
Ollie Palmer tried to draw a parallel between Reynolds and McElhenney, and Ed Sheeran’s ‘ownership’ of Ipswich Town on a recent episode of Foster’s Fozcast podcast, which drew the ire of Tractor Boys fans.
Sheeran has been the main kit sponsor at the club for the past two years, but he has never had an ownership share in the club.
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