Wrexham have already enjoyed an unbelievable journey under owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. But the pair still have higher ambitions for the club, and ambitions to spread the club’s story to another corner of the globe.
Wrexham’s journey from National League to Championship side has been an unthinkable one. And the way they’ve done it has to be admired, too: making themselves into a global brand with sponsorship money coming in from around the world, enabling the club to build a strong squad.
There is of course a huge amount of credit owed to Phil Parkinson and the players, who achieved a 2nd place finish in a very competitive League One roster last season. Though there’s an equal amount of credit owed to those behind the scenes who’ve made Wrexham into the brand it is today.
It’s thought that 5,000 US households have a subscription to watch Wrexham. The US market has really taken to the Dragons’ story, mostly in part thanks to the Welcome to Wrexham docuseries. And the club is now trying to break into Australia and New Zealand.
The Wrexham players have flown to Australia recently ahead of their pre-season tour starting this week.
Michael Williamson reveals Wrexham’s plans to break Asia
As Wrexham’s popularity around the world grows, so too do their sponsorship and revenue streams, so it would make a lot of sense that the club would soon look to try and get a foothold in the Asian market, and build a fanbase out there too.
That’s exactly what club CEO Michael Williamson has now revealed in an interview with ESPN. Williamson explained: “One of the things that will evolve is that as the documentary enters into some of those marketplaces, whether it’s China, Southeast Asia, Indonesia, that obviously will allow us to not just have a football presence, but also to have that brand presence of the storytelling of the documentary.
“And certainly, as that goes into those markets, then that’s something we’ll continue to explore – where can we find opportunities to grow the brand, in Southeast Asia and Asia in general? I have some strong connections there, especially in Indonesia, which has 280 million potential fans.”
South East Asia could be a goldmine for Wrexham
The Dragons are one season away from potentially becoming a Premier League side. Promotion to the top flight would change everything and that’s certainly the aim for the club under Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.
And once they get there, there would be a huge market for them to explore in South East Asia, which boasts some of the Premier League’s most ardent viewers.
A previous study from Sport Five gathered information on the topic: 56% of the Premier League’s global fanbase is in the Asia-Pacific region, whilst 386 million tuned in to the Premier League during the 2021/22 season alone.
If Wrexham can start building a fanbase out there now then, say they reach the Premier League in the next few years, then by that time they’d have a strong enough following to surely make some kind of profit from the Asian market.
All whilst cementing their presence in America and now hopefully in Oceania with the pre-season tour of Australia. Wrexham play Melbourne Victory in their first pre-season friendly on Friday.