Ryan Reynolds, Rob McElhenney invest in Alpine Formula One team

Ryan Reynolds continues to put his money into the sports world as he and fellow actors and business partners Rob McElhenney and Michael B. Jordan are part of an investment group that has reportedly purchased a 24% share in the Alpine Formula 1 team.

Reynolds and McElhenney, who have famously made waves as the owners of Welsh soccer club Wrexham AFC, are part of a group led by Redbird Capital and Otro Capital that's paying $224 million for a stake in the team owned and managed by French carmaker Renault. Jordan himself has a minority stake in AFC Bournemouth, a team that was bought by Vegas Golden Knights owner Bill Foley.

Formula 1 has undergone a massive surge in popularity in the Middle East and the United States, with new races added to both regions in the last few years - the U.S. now has Grand Prix events in Miami and Las Vegas to go along with its United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas. In an entertainment era that is even more dependent on live sports than ever before, the three actors understandably are looking at these events to grow their portfolios beyond the money they've made on-screen.

For Sportico's Morning Lead newsletter, Scott Soshnick and Eben Novy-Williams called attention to F1's explosive global growth in the last few years, particularly a 20% leap in revenues between 2021 and 2022:

That growth happened alongside new cost-cap measures that have fundamentally flipped the cash-flow profile of F1 teams, many of which were previously losing tens of millions (or more) per season. It has all led to a flood of investors looking to buy into the 10-team circuit. F1 boss Stefano Domenicali recently said that owners were turning down “almost billions” from interested investors, and F1 has also considered expanding, which would give it an opportunity to sell two new teams. As an example of how much the economics have changed, Renault bought a prior version of the Alpine team in 2015 for £1, or roughly $1.50.