Rob McElhenney has stakes in several sports teams, including Wrexham and Mexican side Club Necaxa, and has now revealed whether he would consider investing in the Philadelphia Eagles
Wrexham co-owner Rob McElhenney has admitted he’d love to buy his favourite NFL team.
The ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’ star and creator is a huge fan of the Philadelphia Eagles, who recently booked their place in the Super Bowl after storming to a 55-23 win over the Washington Commanders on Sunday. McElhenney already holds stakes in several sports teams alongside fellow actor Ryan Reynolds, including Wrexham, Mexican football side Club Necaxa and the Alpine Formula One team.
The pair also recently made a further foray into football ownership as part of a star-studded investment group that acquired Colombian club La Equidad. The consortium includes the likes of actresses Eva Longoria and Kate Upton, as well as baseball pitcher Justin Verlander.
With an already sizeable sporting portfolio, McElhenney was quizzed on whether he’d ever consider investing in the Eagles during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live on Wednesday. The 47-year-old, who was promoting the latest series of his comedy TV show ‘Mythic Quest’, confessed he would be very keen, but with the money involved likely to prove a major roadblock.
He said: “I would love to be able to afford a team in the National Football League, but I don’t think that’s going to be possible.” McElhenney has frequently shown his love for his hometown team and his social media posts this season highlight an affection for one player in particular.
Running back Saquon Barkley has become an important figure for the Eagles since joining them on a three-year deal worth an estimated £30.37million ($37.75m) from the New York Giants in March 2024 . Barkley rushed for 118 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Eagles past the Commanders in the NFC Championship Game.
Posting after the game, McElhenney said of Barkley: “This is one of the greatest seasons of a professional athlete in the history of organized sports. I am forever grateful to bear witness.” During his appearance with Kimmel, he was shown a viral clip of Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker botching an Eagles chant by misspelling their name in a press conference.
She ends the video by saying: “Well, listen, we’ve got to do this. Let me hear you all say, ‘E-L-G-S-E-S, Eagles!’ Let’s go Birds.” Parker has been widely mocked for the blooper online, but McElhenney was more sympathetic in his assessment.
He said: “I love that she owned it. She just kept going right through it. She said the most important part at the very end, ‘Go Birds.’ That’s all that matters.” McElhenney then led the studio audience in the correct version of the chant.
After recently adding La Equidad to his list, Kimmel asked if McElhenney had “a problem” in terms of his eagerness for investing in sports teams. However, the actor brushed the question off by expressing his love of football.
He said: “We just fell in love with the sport. We fell in love with just the idea of being able to fall in love with the community, and that community happens to fall in love with a sport that we love, and so we just become so invested in the entire experience.”
League One side Wrexham announced a reshuffle at boardroom level last week which saw one of the club’s newest investors, Kaleen Allyn, named as a director. The New York-based Allyn family were revealed in October as minority investors in the Red Dragons, alongside Reynolds and McElhenney.
The changes also saw Humphrey Ker switch from executive director to community director, while former EFL chief executive Shaun Harvey moved from an executive to a non-executive director. The Allyn family previously owned global medical device company Welch Allyn before selling the firm in 2015 for a reported sum of more than £1.6bn ($2bn).
