Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney Just Bought a Colombian Football Club
Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney Just Bought a Colombian Football Club
Entertainment - November 22, 2025
The pair behind Wrexham are taking on La Equidad with new investment, new leadership, and a rebrand designed for a global audience.
Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds didn’t just turn Wrexham AFC into a global phenomenon. They turned it into a model. Two actors buy a small club, inject capital, narrative, and charisma, and suddenly the world cares about a team it once couldn’t find on a map. Now they’re trying to recreate that formula in Colombia.
La Equidad, a Bogotá-based club in the Categoría Primera A, is the newest addition to their expanding football universe. This time, they’re part of a U.S. investment group led by Al Tylis and Sam Porter, with a roster that includes Eva Longoria, Justin Verlander, and Kate Upton. The group acquired the club quietly, without the Hollywood fanfare that followed Wrexham. But the ambition is just as loud.
The club confirmed that its final match of 2025 would be the last under the name “La Equidad.” A full rebrand is coming in 2026—new name, new crest, new colors. That’s not a cosmetic refresh. It’s a signal that the owners aren’t here to tinker. They’re here to transform the club into a global-facing sports property built for modern audiences.
The organization said the owners are committed to investing in “key areas,” including the men’s core squad and the women’s team. This isn’t the language of celebrity hobbyists. It’s the tone of a group thinking long-term about infrastructure, development, and global relevance. Al Tylis underscored that vision: “This is an incredible opportunity to enhance the club’s growth in every aspect and to become an integral part of Colombian football.”
You can feel the blueprint from Wrexham humming underneath this deal. Reynolds and McElhenney understand the power of pairing sports with storytelling. Wrexham wasn’t just a club—it became a content engine. Viewers didn’t follow the league table; they followed a narrative arc. The underdog story became bingeable television. The football became a plot device.
Now imagine that playbook applied in Colombia, a country where football isn’t just entertainment—it’s religion. Add a full rebrand, a passionate local fan base, new investment, and owners who understand global audience dynamics, and suddenly this looks less like an acquisition and more like a reboot.
Inside the club, the enthusiasm is real. Gonzalo Muñoz Ponce, the new technical secretary, said that when the opportunity came, “it was impossible to say no.” That reaction says everything. These projects are magnetic because they offer something rare in global football: a chance to rebuild a team with ambition, resources, and international cultural gravity.
This deal also sits inside a broader trend. Celebrity ownership is no longer a curiosity—it’s a strategy. LeBron James owns part of Liverpool and Boston’s Fenway Sports Group. Mahomes has equity in the Royals. Eva Longoria, who’s part of this very investment group, owns Club Necaxa in Mexico. Even influencers and creators are getting in: content and sports now move together, feeding each other.
Reynolds and McElhenney didn’t pioneer the idea, but they perfected the tone. They understand that modern sports operate at the intersection of community and entertainment. A club isn’t just a team—it’s a story engine. It’s why their projects resonate: they marry tradition with modernity, seriousness with humor, local loyalty with global reach.
The upcoming 2026 rebrand will be the first real chapter of this Colombian experiment. No name has been announced yet, and the colors are a mystery, but the direction feels unmistakable. This group wants to build a club that feels authentic to Bogotá yet accessible to fans who may never set foot in Colombia. It’s a delicate balance, but Wrexham proved they can walk that line without losing local soul.
For now, the only certainty is that La Equidad is gone. In its place, something louder, brighter, and more ambitious is coming. And with Reynolds and McElhenney in the ownership room, it won’t just be a football team.
It’ll be a storyline—with a global audience waiting for the first episode.
