The Deadpool star and fellow Hollywood actor Rob McElhenney bought Welsh club Wrexham last year
Since purcashing National League side Wrexham last February, Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have been making headlines with their hands-on approach to running a lower league football club. The latest story involving the pair came as Reynolds criticised the fifth tier's approach to live streaming.
BT Sport holds the broadcasting rights to the National League and has done since 2013. The current deal between the two runs until 2024, and as of yet, clubs are not allowed to offer live streams of their matches, a rule which Reynolds passionately opposes.
The Hollywood actor, who has starred in such smash hits as Deadpool and Free Guy, believes that the league's decision is costing clubs in the lower leagues the opportunity to generate vital revenue.
In a social media post, Reynolds said:
"After months of maximum effort, the decision [through inaction of the Vanarama National League] to not allow domestic/international streaming of matches of Wrexham and the other clubs in the league is truly baffling, depriving every team in our league the chance to expand the fanbase while adding to league revenue [which] benefits everyone."
"This is a spotlight and a chance and we ask the Vanarama National League to take it."
Reynolds has also pleaded with sponsors Vanarama and broadcaster BT Sport to help in navigating a way towards a rule change, one that would see clubs able to maximise their revenue by showing matches which aren't scheduled to appear on BT Sport.
League sponsors Vanarama responded to Reynolds' social media post, by saying that they are "in favour of live streaming as long as it benefits all clubs in the league and is what the fans want" and that they will endeavour to "talk to" the league and to BT Sport to "to make sure our voice is heard".
The National League has since said that it is in advanced talks to introduce some kind of OTT live streaming platform which would indeed allow clubs to show their own matches via their own media channels, providing they are not to be aired on BT Sport.
The league has created a proposal which it intends to bring to its board during a meeting today, 15th September.
In a statement, the National League said:
"We have been working intensely for some months to finalise a proposal to launch a centralised, fully tested, Vanarama National League streaming platform. This proposal goes to the Board for consideration at their meeting on 15th September,"
"The proposal will recognise that we must respect and protect the status of the League and also BT Sport's high production values and ensuring an approach which guarantees quality of service and the needs of all our clubs and their fans."
"We understand the desire from some clubs, who find themselves in a position to stream independently and we respect that, however there is a requirement for the League to protect and provide a solution for all three divisions."
"We will always take into account the views of individual clubs, but it is imperative that we look after the interests of 72 member clubs and doing as much as we can to deliver income, profile and support for all."
We should get some more news on this developing situation in the coming days, as the Vanarama National League board discuss their proposal at today's board meeting.
Reynolds, McElhenney and plenty of other interested parties in the league will be optimistic of a positive outcome on live streaming.
Stick around for more football news, and if you're looking for live streams, don't forget to check out our football live streaming page, where we host live coverage of tonnes of matches from some of the biggest leagues in the world including La Liga, Serie A and the Bundesliga.
