Since its acquisition by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney in 2021, the once-struggling Welsh football club Wrexham A.F.C. has seen its fortunes change dramatically, experiencing an impressive turnaround on the field and a surge in popularity on TV screens worldwide. Eager to attach its name to the feel-good story, Danone-owned coffee brand STōK Cold Brew is jumping into the game as the team’s official stadium sponsor, beginning July 1.
As part of the sponsorship, Wrexham’s historic home field, Racecourse Ground – the oldest international soccer stadium still in active use – will be renamed for a brand for the first time, now going by STōK Cae Ras in Welsh, or STōK Racecourse.
“We are delighted to welcome STōK to the Wrexham family,” said Humphrey Ker, executive director of Wrexham A.F.C., in a press release. “Having secured the support of the Club Advisory Board and understanding that the majority of fans were happy for the stadium to be sponsored, we were delighted to partner with one of the fastest growing cold brew coffee brands in the U.S., as their ambitions and upward trajectory matches our own.”
Sold solely in multiserve bottles, STōK launched in 2016 and has since become the second largest RTD coffee brand in the U.S. behind Starbucks. According to NielsenIQ, the brand grew retail dollar sales 25.1% in the 52-week period ending May 6, with volume sales up 5.3%.
Speaking with BevNET yesterday, Brittney Polka, VP of Ready-to-Drink Beverages at Danone North America, said STōK has seen sales surge in the U.S. thanks to pandemic-driven behaviors leading more consumers to drink coffee at home and rising interest in cold brew from younger consumers. However, the brand has no presence in the U.K. and, despite purchasing naming rights for a Welsh football club, Polka said the company has no immediate plans to expand to the British market.
“It’s not the most obvious partnership, but it’s one that we are super invested in at STōK, and I would say we’re just as invested in Wrexham’s success as we are in cold brew coffee,” Polka told BevNET. “Wrexham and STōK have a lot in common and we like to think we’re kindred spirits. We’re both underdog stories with exploding fan bases, a true passion for our craft and growing in popularity both in the States and abroad.”
Asked whether STōK will be sold in the newly dubbed STōK Racecourse, despite no immediate plans for a U.K. retail launch, Polka said fans will have to “stay tuned” after the partnership officially begins in July.
Prior to its £2 million acquisition by Reynolds and McElhenney, Wrexham A.F.C. had been in poor shape: it had been a non-League club for over a decade and past leadership had often been accused of mismanagement. However, under the actors’ ownership and investment, the club has achieved a winning record and earlier this year won a promotion back into the English Football League.
The turnaround has been documented by the FX TV series Welcome to Wrexham, which has exponentially raised the brand’s profile across the globe, attracting names like Will Ferrell and fellow coffee impresario Hugh Jackman to the stadium to watch games. The series has particularly helped Wrexham gain traction with American fans as well, leading to an upcoming U.S. tour this summer in which Polka said STōK will play a marketing role.
“We’ve seen soccer absolutely explode in the United States,” she said..
Despite its global popularity, soccer has historically been a more niche interest among American sports fans. However, that’s changed drastically in recent years as a Washington Post poll last year found soccer’s popularity had risen to become American adults’ fourth favorite sport with 8% saying it was their top choice to watch, while 27% overall said they are a fan of the game. That reflects a sharp uptick from a 2004 poll where just 2% listed soccer as their favorite sport.
To kick off the partnership, STōK will release an online video featuring Reynolds and McElhenney parodying the cultural division between American and British preferences for coffee and tea. In the commercial, the actors swap out the Wrexham players’ afternoon tea for STōK cold brew, leading the team to throw mugs across the locker room and flip benches in outrage.
The sponsorship arrives as STōK rolls out its latest flavor, STōK Espresso Blend. According to Polka, the brand previously cut SKUs containing milk and other creamers in order to focus solely on black coffee offerings, in line with the product’s positioning as a customizable, home-use cold brew.
“With the growth of the younger consumers as well as the growth of pandemic personalization at home, we realized that the black [coffee] space in particular was really where STōK should try to play even harder and really own,” she said. “We’ve really expanded and grown due to that personalization effort on the part of consumers.”
STōK isn’t the only U.S. beverage brand aligning itself with Wrexham, however. Yesterday, mixer maker Betty Buzz – founded by Reynolds’ wife, actress Blake Lively – was named as the club’s official training kit sponsor for the 2023-24 season. As part of the deal, the club said Betty Buzz will be sold at the soon-to-be STōK Racecourse and it has received naming rights for the hospitality suite used by the co-chairmen at the stadium, which will be redesigned next month. As well, the brand will be a traveling sponsor of the American tour.
That partnership was announced as Betty Buzz rolls out into U.K. retail, with the brand’s five SKU portfolio now available in all U.K. Whole Foods Market stores.
“The owners of Wrexham AFC reached out to me through official channels,” Lively said in the release. “Our team had, of course, heard of Wrexham AFC but once we officially learned about their refreshing vision, we knew it was the right official fit for our refreshing sparkling beverage. Officially.”