Rob McElhenney has offered insight into his mindset as an owner at Wrexham as he brings up four years at the STōK Cae Ras.
Wrexham’s wild ride under Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds continues with another promotion the ultimate target.
Phil Parkinson has guided Wrexham to back-to-back promotions, rapidly moving from the National League to League One.
Another promotion is now the target with Wrexham five points off an automatic spot in the League One table.
McElhenney and Reynolds brought up four years at Wrexham earlier in February, with the club continuing to make huge progress.
McElhenney and Reynolds paid £2million for Wrexham back in 2021 and have not only taken the club to their hearts, but also Wrexham as a whole.
Rob McElhenney stance on Wrexham ownership
Another promotion would be extraordinary but even if it doesn’t happen, Wrexham would be a force for next season.
McElhenney has now been asked whether his perspective on sporting ownership has changed since becoming involved with Wrexham.
Speaking on Hot Ones, McElhenney was quizzed on whether he feels more sympathetic towards US sporting owners who don’t enjoy huge success.
McElhenney suggested that he actually feels more sorry for fanbases who go years without seeing their teams at the top of the game.
McElhenney added that it’s difficult to feel sympathy for owners, no doubt knowing that many other League One fanbases are praying for Wrexham’s downfall.
The ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’ star noted that he would always side towards fans and artists, but is wary of saying that publicly.
McElhenney joked that his support for workers may lead to Wrexham players making cheeky requests for more money in the future.
“Teams are going to go up and down, up and down, up and down,” said McElhenney.
“But you have these organisations that, maybe even when they go down, they only go down for a couple of years, then they come back up. Then you have other organisations that just sort of are middling for so long, or maybe always at the bottom, and I always feel so bad for the fanbases more than anything else, because they deserve something better.
“It has to come from the top, at a certain point. Five years, sure, 10 years, eh, 15, 20 years of a lack of success?
“I’m always straddling, and have been since the beginning of Sunny, both being management and on the workforce. I’m in charge of the budget but I’m also negotiating against myself when we’re putting together a lighting package and things like that.
“I always, no matter what, will always tilt towards labour or artists – always – so it’s hard to feel sorry for the owners, I feel bad for the fanbases number one and I will always tilt towards the players more than the owners, which… you’ve got be careful about saying that because then the players at Wrexham are like… ‘okay boss, write the cheque’,” he added.
Rob McElhenney’s other sporting ventures
McElhenney loves the Philadelphia Eagles and recently celebrated their Super Bowl win over the Kansas City Chiefs.
Wrexham may well be McElhenney’s second love in sports, but he has added more teams to his portfolio.
McElhenney and Reynolds recently invested in La Equidad, become shareholders in the Colombian side.
In April 2024, McElhenney and Reynolds invested in Club Necaxa as they headed into Mexican football too.
Add in the Alpine F1 Team as another investment for the Hollywood duo and they clearly seem to love being involved in the business side of football – and will hope for more success after Wrexham’s rise.