Hollywood star Ryan Reynolds teased interest in purchasing Canadian NHL franchise the Ottawa Senators.
Back in November 2020, the Canadian actor joined forces with Rob McElhenney - famed for creating and starring in ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’ - purchased Wrexham AFC amid plenty of fanfare. This past year, a documentary was released on their journey entitled 'Welcome to Wrexham' - which has since been rebooted for a second season.
Reynolds and McElhenney purchased Wrexham for $2.76million (£2.47m) and it appears the 46-year-old could expand his sports portfolio. According to People, the Vancouver native could even move to take solo ownership of the Senators.
A source reportedly told People that Reynolds is keen to keep the team in Ottawa amid fears a sale to a different buyer could see the franchise relocated. Reynolds would be interested in moving for the Senators should the current owners - the Melnyk family - opt to sell.
According to Sportico, the franchise is currently valued at $655m (£587m) - the sixth cheapest of the 32 NHL teams. When approached about buying the franchise by a fan on Twitter, Reynolds refused to rule the proposition out.
“Ottawa Senators are for sale…Come be our owner,” the fan wrote. The actor responded with a thinking face emoji.
Anna and Olivia Melnyk took over the Senators following the death of their father and owner Eugene Melnyk in March earlier this year. He had owned the Senators since he purchased the NHL club for $92m (£82.4m) back in 2003. According to the Ottawa Sun, Reynolds could be rivalled for the purchase by Jeffrey and Michael Kimel, who are based in Toronto.
Reynolds and fellow co-chairman McElhenney deserve credit for how they’ve attempted to ingratiate themselves with the local community. McElhenney was in attendance recently as Wrexham faced title rivals and defending league champions Llandudno Ladies, winning 5-2 at Rhos Aelwyd FC.
To the delight of spectators, McElhenney was seen laughing, chatting and drinking pints with fans. It was noted there were no official camera crews or anything with the Philadelphia native, which showed the day out was not for publicity purposes.
McElhenney also watched as Wrexham men’s faced Boreham Wood, and it turned out he was in the area to film a short video for co-chairman Ryan Reynolds’ birthday. McElhenney opted to mark the Deadpool star’s birthday with a blimp flown from Wrexham’s home stadium.
The video of the stunt, which featured players and executive director Humphrey Ker, was posted to Twitter by McElhenney along with the caption: “The head and mouth are to scale, but the eyes are 50% more dreamy in real life. Happy Birthday @vancityreynolds from the @Wrexham_AFC Racecourse.”
