Wrexham owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney in shock talks over £20million deal to invest in new sport
WREXHAM’S movie star owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney are in talks with the ECB about making a shock move into cricket.
SunSport has learned that the Hollywood pair are considering buying into Hundred franchise Welsh Fire.
The ECB are selling a 49 per cent share of the eight Hundred teams to private investors, and are targeting the owners of US sports franchises and Indian Premier League sides.
Reynolds and Rob McElhenney are understood to have had meetings with ECB representatives and been invited to attend matches at this summer‘s competition, which kicks off with Oval Invincibles playing Birmingham Phoenix on Tuesday.
The Welsh Fire would one of be cheapest of the eight teams to buy, with sources involved in the talks valuing half the franchise at around £20m.
Reynolds and McElhenney have transformed Wrexham since buying the non-league club three years ago, winning two successive promotions and gaining a worldwide fanbase on the back of the smash-hit documentary Welcome to Wrexham.
The actors are huge sports fans with investments in other franchises, including Mexican Premier League side Club Necaxa and Formula One team Alpine F1.
US bank Raine Group are handling the sale after flogging Chelsea to Todd Boehly two years ago and bringing in Sir Jim Ratcliffe‘s £1.25billion investment into Manchester United.
Reynolds has had a busy summer which included gatecrashing a live Euro 2024 broadcast alongside Hugh Jackman.
In a bizarre moment, Spanish viewers were treated to a guest appearance from the actors who are currently on a Press Tour to promote their new film ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ which premieres later this month.
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Guide to The Hundred
A DOUBLE-HEADER of women’s and men’s matches between Oval Invincibles and Birmingham Phoenix will launch a fourth edition of The Hundred. With the ECB now trying to attract financial investment from across the globe, here are the key questions . . . and answers.
Why does The Hundred divide opinion? SOME say it pulls in a new, family-friendly audience and promotes the women’s game. Others feel backing the existing county T20 Blast would have done the same and are angry at so little Test cricket in August.
What’s happening on the money side?
ECB want to sell stakes in the teams for up to £500million in total. But some potential investors are reluctant to cough up as they would own 49 per cent, with counties keeping a controlling 51 per cent interest.
Who are the big overseas stars?
THE top salary band of £125,000 for men means big names are lacking.
Windies left-hander Nicholas Pooran is new having signed for Northern Superchargers. On the women’s side, Aussie legend Meg Lanning makes her debut.
What about England players?
BEN STOKES, who missed the last two Hundreds, will play four games for Superchargers — but Jos Buttler could miss the whole tournament with a calf injury.
The likes of Joe Root, Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley can appear once the Third Test v West Indies is over.
All England women players feature as it does not clash with international cricket.
And Freddie’s involved, is that right?
YES, Andrew Flintoff is new Superchargers coach and Harry Brook is his captain.
Who are current champions?
OVAL INVINCIBLES (men’s) and Southern Brave (women’s) are current champions.
Where can I watch it?
EVERY match is shown live on Sky TV — with selected games also on BBC.
The pair burst onto the Spanish broadcaster RTVE set in Berlin cheering “Ole, Ole, Ole”.
And when asked to introduce themselves Reynolds said he was fellow actor “Ryan Gosling” while Jackman joked he was the late Playboy founder “Hugh Hefner”.