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Wrexham's US tour shows the brand is bigger than ever ahead of Championship push
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NewsDesk
Original post · 30 Jul
From non-league friendlies to ringing the Nasdaq bell
If you'd told a Wrexham fan back in 2021 that their club would one day be launching a kit in Times Square, they'd have laughed. Back then, Phil Parkinson's first pre-season featured games against Burnley's Under-23s, Tamworth, a Fleetwood Town XI, Spennymoor Town and Curzon Ashton.
Fast forward to now and the Red Dragons unveiled their new 2026-27 home shirt while ringing the Nasdaq bell in New York, with club icons Mickey Thomas, Steven Fletcher, Ben Tozer and Ben Foster all along for the ride. Four years is a short time in football, but Wrexham have covered a lot of ground.
A red buzz across America
This is the third US tour in four summers, and the timing was deliberate - it kicked off just a week after the World Cup final was held in New Jersey. Wrexham took full advantage, opening with a 3-2 win over Premier League Leeds United at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay.
A narrow 1-0 defeat to reigning Premier League champions Liverpool followed at Yankee Stadium, where more than 42,000 fans turned out. The tour wraps up against Parkinson's old club Sunderland at Subaru Park in Chester, Pennsylvania, on Sunday, 2 August (17:00 BST).
The appeal on the ground is real. A New York sports bar called Printers Alley regularly shows Wrexham games and hosted around 200 supporters for a live podcast the night before the Liverpool match. As manager Eddie O'Doherty put it, "We get a loyal turnout for all Wrexham games, whether it's a 07:45am start or a midday start."
The money behind the miles
Here's where it gets serious for anyone watching the business side. Wrexham posted record revenue of £33.3m in 2024-25 - and that was while they were still a League One club. The UK made up 40.5% of turnover, while the rest of the world, mostly North America, accounted for 57.7%, driven largely by the Welcome to Wrexham documentary.
Co-owners Rob Mac and Ryan Reynolds have pulled in extra investment from the Allyn family and Apollo Sports Capital to push the global expansion further. Fans spotting Wrexham shirts on sale next to Real Madrid jerseys in New York tells you where the brand sits now.
The catch: all those air miles
There's a balancing act, though, and Parkinson knows it. Wrexham will clock up nearly 9,000 air miles on the US tour alone - and that's before you add earlier July trips to Poland and Finland to face Wisla Krakow and Manchester United.
That travel load has already shaped his plans. Parkinson has suggested the Carabao Cup first-round tie at Middlesbrough on Friday, 7 August may serve as the real final warm-up before the Championship opener at Cardiff City on Monday, 17 August.
"We're not going to be quite where we need to be with the travel," he admitted after the win over Manchester United, "but we'll go there to try and get the result as we always do." He was quick to add he'd "never swap the experiences we've had."
What it means for fans and bettors
For supporters, the wins over Leeds and a competitive showing against Liverpool are genuine encouragement heading into a Championship campaign where promotion is the target. Pre-season results are always to be taken with a pinch of salt, but Wrexham have looked capable against top-flight opposition.
For anyone eyeing the markets, the travel factor is worth keeping in mind. Parkinson himself has flagged that his squad may not be at full sharpness for the early fixtures - which is the kind of context that matters more than any friendly scoreline.
Sources:
We'll fold any fallout from this into the UK casino sites thread as it develops.
If you'd told a Wrexham fan back in 2021 that their club would one day be launching a kit in Times Square, they'd have laughed. Back then, Phil Parkinson's first pre-season featured games against Burnley's Under-23s, Tamworth, a Fleetwood Town XI, Spennymoor Town and Curzon Ashton.
Fast forward to now and the Red Dragons unveiled their new 2026-27 home shirt while ringing the Nasdaq bell in New York, with club icons Mickey Thomas, Steven Fletcher, Ben Tozer and Ben Foster all along for the ride. Four years is a short time in football, but Wrexham have covered a lot of ground.
A red buzz across America
This is the third US tour in four summers, and the timing was deliberate - it kicked off just a week after the World Cup final was held in New Jersey. Wrexham took full advantage, opening with a 3-2 win over Premier League Leeds United at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay.
A narrow 1-0 defeat to reigning Premier League champions Liverpool followed at Yankee Stadium, where more than 42,000 fans turned out. The tour wraps up against Parkinson's old club Sunderland at Subaru Park in Chester, Pennsylvania, on Sunday, 2 August (17:00 BST).
The appeal on the ground is real. A New York sports bar called Printers Alley regularly shows Wrexham games and hosted around 200 supporters for a live podcast the night before the Liverpool match. As manager Eddie O'Doherty put it, "We get a loyal turnout for all Wrexham games, whether it's a 07:45am start or a midday start."
The money behind the miles
Here's where it gets serious for anyone watching the business side. Wrexham posted record revenue of £33.3m in 2024-25 - and that was while they were still a League One club. The UK made up 40.5% of turnover, while the rest of the world, mostly North America, accounted for 57.7%, driven largely by the Welcome to Wrexham documentary.
Co-owners Rob Mac and Ryan Reynolds have pulled in extra investment from the Allyn family and Apollo Sports Capital to push the global expansion further. Fans spotting Wrexham shirts on sale next to Real Madrid jerseys in New York tells you where the brand sits now.
The catch: all those air miles
There's a balancing act, though, and Parkinson knows it. Wrexham will clock up nearly 9,000 air miles on the US tour alone - and that's before you add earlier July trips to Poland and Finland to face Wisla Krakow and Manchester United.
That travel load has already shaped his plans. Parkinson has suggested the Carabao Cup first-round tie at Middlesbrough on Friday, 7 August may serve as the real final warm-up before the Championship opener at Cardiff City on Monday, 17 August.
"We're not going to be quite where we need to be with the travel," he admitted after the win over Manchester United, "but we'll go there to try and get the result as we always do." He was quick to add he'd "never swap the experiences we've had."
What it means for fans and bettors
For supporters, the wins over Leeds and a competitive showing against Liverpool are genuine encouragement heading into a Championship campaign where promotion is the target. Pre-season results are always to be taken with a pinch of salt, but Wrexham have looked capable against top-flight opposition.
For anyone eyeing the markets, the travel factor is worth keeping in mind. Parkinson himself has flagged that his squad may not be at full sharpness for the early fixtures - which is the kind of context that matters more than any friendly scoreline.
Sources:
We'll fold any fallout from this into the UK casino sites thread as it develops.
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