Wrexham is rapidly rising the ranks of the most famous clubs in the United States. It flows well with the club’s promotion back to the English Football League, as it rises the ranks in the pyramid. Stateside, though, Wrexham is rivaling some of the domestic sides in terms of popularity.
Paul Mullin, one of the stars of Wrexham’s season as its leading scorer, said his life is largely unchanged despite Wrexham’s success both on and off the pitch.
“[McElhenney and Reynolds] say outside of the top-10 teams we are probably the most famous,” Mullin told The Times. “Quite weird. I don’t see myself as famous or recognisable and nothing has changed me. I literally do exactly the same, like walking into McDonald’s. I’ve never been to America and I’ll probably get a shock when I go in the next few months.”
Is Wrexham actually that famous in the United States? We can compare them to MLS, at least.
Looking specifically at Major League Soccer, some of the American viewership of Wrexham games exceeds those of MLS contests on US TV. In Wrexham’s FA Cup fifth-round loss to Sheffield United in February, 139,000 fans watched on ESPN2. This game was shown live on a midweek afternoon.