Wales: New Wrexham Stadium Should be an Entertainment Complex
source: StadiumDB.com; author: StadiumDB.com
Wrexham’s progress through the leagues has renewed debate about their stadium. While the historic Racecourse Ground is being upgraded, some suggest larger plans could follow, including ideas for new stands, more seats, and year-round entertainment options.
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Following the club’s ascendancy up the divisions under the ownership of Hollywood stars Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds, Wrexham AFC have found themselves a bit behind the stadium standards that reflect their ambitions. So, concept artists have decided to weigh in to offer plans for a new stadium.
While the Racecourse Stadium, currently the STōK Cae Ras, has undergone some development, many envision a much grander ground that draws from its star owners. It’s a design that leans heavily into the persona of the owners, while admittedly creating what could be a grand venue to visit throughout the year.
© Populous
More Seats, More Entertainment
You can now find stadium concept art images that draw from the new trajectory and ownership of Wrexham. The programs came up with a distinct design that draws from the latest stadium designs, like that of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and American resorts.
Some landed on 35,000 seats being appropriate for Wrexham. As it stands, such a build would be the second-highest capacity in the Championship, just 4,732 seats short of Sheffield Wednesday’s Hillsborough Stadium. It’d narrowly pip the 34,642 maximum capacity of Riverside Stadium, the home of Middlesbrough.
Most of the buzz came from unofficial speculation. Some media suggested that, given the Hollywood background of the owners, the project could in theory include hotel-resort style elements, with ideas such as a cinema or casino also being mentioned. This’d deliver a selling point that even the stadium in Monaco doesn’t boast, with Stade Louis II being eight minutes away from the famed Casino de Monte Carlo.
Given the increase in popularity of casino gaming over the last few years, particularly in the North American homes of McElhenney and Reynolds, a casino could prove to be a strong addition in-person and online. As shown by the top online casino Canada has to offer, live casino games are now streamed from famous venues like the Bellagio. A Wrexham live casino game could have a special kind of appeal for football fans around the world.
© Populous
What Developments are Happening at STōK Cae Ras
Last year, Wrexham began to develop their stadium. The focus was the Kop Stand, with the owners bringing in developers Populous, who’d worked on Wembley Stadium, the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and the Principality Stadium – all superb and modern grounds.
The new section was planned to reach a capacity of 5,500 seats, but that wasn’t the extent of their plans. The initial approval came in March 2025. By the end of July 2025, Wrexham had submitted another planning application to add a further 2,250 seats to the Kop Stand. Overall, this would increase the stadium’s capacity to 18,000.
With the new Kop Stand underway, September also saw the announcement of further changes being made to the stadium. To welcome the new season, they improved the ground with undersoil heating and better pitch drainage, a new TV gantry, two giant screens for the fans, and some more seats being put into the other three stands.
Wrexham might not be getting the lavish 35,000-capacity entertainment hub stadium conjured up by the concept artists, but the ground does continue to improve with each step up the football league pyramid.
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