Ryan Reynolds is investing in another soccer team after a successful run with the English club Wrexham A.F.C. in recent years.
Reynolds, 48, is among a group of celebrity investors who have acquired a stake in La Equidad, the Columbian club team announced this week.
La Equidad, which was founded in 1982, plays in the country’s top Categoria Primera A division. The team has never won its league championship, however La Equidad has been runners-up three times in 2007, 2010, and 2011.
ESPN reported that Reynolds and his Wrexham partner Rob McElhenney agreed to invest in La Equidad alongside actress Eva Longoria, baseball star Justin Verlander, his wife Kate Upton and retired NBA star Shawn Marion.
The group is led by real estate investor Al Tylis and soccer executive Sam Porter, who heads the Mexican squad Necaxa and D.C. United in the U.S.-based MLS, according to the outlet.
“We welcome Al Tylis and Sam Porter, who arrive with a clear, long-term vision to continue strengthening our club,” La Equidad said in a statement on social media. “This is the first step towards a future full of opportunities.”
La Equidad celebrated the new ownership group as the beginning of a “new era” in the team’s history.
“Al Tylis and Sam Porter not only have extensive experience in the sports world but they also have the support of recognised figures such as Eva Longoria, Rob McElhenney, Ryan Reynolds, Justin Verlander, Kate Upton, Shawn Marion and Scott Galloway,” the team’s statement added, promising that “great things are coming.”
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Reynolds and It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia star McElhenney, 47, have led Wrexham A.F.C. to a historic turnaround since purchasing the team in November 2020.
On the heels of their new celebrity ownership and an FX documentary series about the team, Wrexham has earned promotions in back-to-back seasons, taking them from competing in the lowly fifth-tier English soccer league up to the country’s third-tier league with hopes of one day earning a promotion into the top Premier League.
Reynolds and McElhenney, who are close friends, are frequently seen at games together or actively commenting on social media during the team’s matches. The pair also invested in Tylis’ Necaxa team last April.
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The third soccer investment for Reynolds comes amid a lawsuit filed against him and his wife Blake Lively by It Ends With Us director Justin Baldoni. Baldoni, 40, filed the $400 million lawsuit after Lively, 37, accused the director of sexual harassment on set and an ensuing smear campaign afterwards.
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“This latest lawsuit from Justin Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios, and its associates is another chapter in the abuser playbook,” Lively’s legal team said in a statement this week. “This is an age-old story: A woman speaks up with concrete evidence of sexual harassment and retaliation and the abuser attempts to turn the tables on the victim.”
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