'Underdog' this is why struggling browser Firefox and Ryan Reynolds' Wrexham football club are now joined at the kit

Date:
Thu, 30 Jul 2026 19:55:00 +0000

Description:
Why is Firefox sponsoring Wrexham AFC? The connection between the scrappy football club and struggling web browser is more obvious than you might
think. We got to the bottom of it.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter It starts on the 4 Train, that straight-run subway line from Grand Central to Yankee Stadium, where I start to notice the red shirts. By the time I reach the massive gray stadium,
people are circling the Bronx Bombers edifice like thousands of red ants, all queuing up for a rare baseball season sight: football (soccer) in Yankee Stadium.

Most of the shirts are for Premier League side Liverpool FC, but there's a smattering of Wrexham kits. Some of them look threadbare, and none feature
the clubs newest sponsor: Firefox. The travel and away kits were unveiled
just days before too soon for die-hard fans to show their support for the team and its well-known but, by some measures, marginal web browser. Walking through Babe Ruth Plaza, I follow behind the red shirts until Im lined up behind fans who have come from as far as Arkansas and California to witness the pre-season match. None are musing about Firefoxs new Wrexham sponsorship or how Mozilla (Firefoxs parent) took over from United, which itself took
over from TikTok. Latest Videos From TechRadar Watch full video here: The Reynolds effect (Image credit: FX/Disney Plus) The scrappy Welsh club enjoys outsized notoriety thanks to its owners, actors and entrepreneurs Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds, and the popular Hulu docu-series Welcome to Wrexham , which recounts the clubs rise from the ashes and ascent to, as of last season, just short of Premier League status.

While we wait to enter the stadium, the Liverpool team arrives late
following a day of storms and flight cancellations on a pair of giant red touring buses to hearty cheers from the crowd. Everyone knows Wrexham, but
the fans seem to be with Liverpool. You may like A new Edge vs Safari debate is raging, but I think Firefox is best for Macs How to watch Welcome to Wrexham S5 online from anywhere stream series with Ryan Reynolds club's
first Championship season now Mozilla report accuses Microsoft of unfairly pushing Edge in Windows Image 1 of 3 (Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future) (Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future) (Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future) Image 1 of 3 View Original Image 2 of 3 View Original Image 3 of 3 View Original How does a browser and a keeper connect? As we file in, I have time to think about the connection between Wrexham and Firefox. The kits, which I view later in person and on the field, are quite fetching. On top of the
bold, red stretchable fabric is the iconic Firefox flame. It makes me think
of the heat Mozilla hopes to generate around its best-known product.

The fit, though, between a scrappy football team and a portal you use to navigate the web, seems tenuous and as ill-fitted as the rectangular pitch theyve somehow jury-rigged onto the baseball diamond. A covered home plate, third base, and right field jut out awkwardly, and much later a fan tells me the pitch looked kind of messy and maybe not a great experience for some of the players. Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Contact me
with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. Image 1 of 2 (Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future) (Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future) Image 1 of 2 View Original Image 2 of 2 View Original Its not that I dont understand why Mozilla tied its sails to Wrexham. As I write this, Firefox sits, according to StatCounter , at 3.4% of the global browser market share. By contrast, Chrome has 69% and Safari almost 16%. Put another way,
the browser wars are over.

It's not that Firefox is irrelevant, but it's not as relevant as it once was. There was a time, maybe 15 years ago, when I was firmly in the Firefox camp. Id adopted it because I was working with so many developers, who were all using the leaner and (some thought) meaner platform. It was built on the premise of openness, running counter to Internet Explorer (RIP) and the fast-growing Google Chrome.

Over time, though, it started to suffer from the same resource-hogging issues as Internet Explorer. I eventually gave it up and migrated to Chrome, then
had a dalliance with Microsoft Edge and have now settled on Chrome on the desktop and Safari for mobile. If Im being honest, I stopped considering Firefox years ago. What to read next Microsoft CEO's comments on Windows 11 fill me with hope, but also fear The Disney settlement is a story about two layers of infrastructure that no longer line up I watched the World Cup at 35,000ft on Virgin Atlantic's new Starlink Wi-Fi (Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future) The most obvious answer As the team took the makeshiift pitch and the stands filled with red shirts, I waited for Mozillas relatively new CEO Anthony Enzor-DeMeo and CMO John Solomon to arrive so I could quiz them about product plans and Mozillas dive into AI.

Enzor-DeMeo joined Mozilla in 2024 after stints at Roofstock, Better, and Wayfair. In each, the admitted nerd appears to have held positions relating
to products, technology, and engineering. Solomon comes to Mozilla from Apple and Beats. (Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future) When Enzor-DeMeo finally does arrive, he looks younger than I expected and has a sort of nervous energy. Its been a busy few days with a lot of interviews, and when I try to ask about Mozilla and AI, he tells me he doesnt want to do any more. Still, hes open and affable, explaining that hes a die-hard Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia ( Rob McElhenney is a series star) fan, so much so that when someone else says they love the show, he asks them to name their favorite episode and then, without waiting for an answer, tells us his.

Still, Enzor-DeMeo was not a closet fan of the beautiful game. Instead, Solomon, who comes from the much more culturally connected Beats brand, suggested this partnership. Enzor-DeMeo watched Reynolds Welcome to Wrexham doc and thought, Oh, this makes a lot of sense. (Image credit: Lance Ulanoff
/ Future) I stared at him, wondering what he saw that I didnt. Sure, a partnership with the Red Dragons, as Wrexham are also known (I even spotted their red dragon mascot wandering the pitch and hugging fans) makes some sense. You know, fire, dragons? And this would be Wrexhams second tech sponsorship after TikTok, which was widely featured in early seasons of Welcome to Wrexham . Mozilla confirmed that as they film the new season, we will see the Firefox brand on display in some fashion.

I looked at Enzor-DeMeo, who was still enthusiastically talking about Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia , and asked him, Whats the throughline from Firefox to Wrexham? Enzor-DeMeo smiled and quickly answered, Underdog.

The only thing that wouldve made the moment more perfect is if an announcer suddenly screamed, Goooooaaaallll! But I got it. (Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future) It's never just about money If youve never seen the documentary, Wrexham AFC was the disintegrating center of a hardscrabble town that,
despite over 150 years of footballing history, had been largely forgotten and fallen to the fifth tier of the English league system. Achieving Premier League status, a feat they very nearly accomplished last season, seemed impossible. Until Reynolds and McElhenney arrived.

Sure, there are people unhappy with the way celebrity and money have throw
off the balance of a well-worn system, but if you watch the doc, you know
that it was never enough to throw money and fame at it. Its a very human
story with equal measures of failure and success.

Firefox is surely the underdog in the browser game. Built on its own Gecko browser engine, it stands apart from Google, Apple and Microsoft, which all have a profit motive in having you use their platforms. Mozillas parent organization is non-profit, and although the Mozilla Corp, under which
Firefox lives, is for-profit, its revenues are used to fund the non-profit effort.

Like its competitors, Firefox has AI features, letting you access the AI chatbot of your choice in a sidebar, and using AI to help you organize tabs. It does, though, seem a bit less interested in force-feeding AI.

Still, underdog status is no guarantee of a Cinderella story, and as the game drags on with countless missed shots and a handful of fouls, I wonder if Wrexham can embarrass Liverpool in front of its US fans. A moment later, Liverpool manages at roughly 60 minutes in to sail one over the outstretched arms of Wrexham substitute goalkeeper Callum Burton.

Theres no victory for the underdog this time, but its the pre-season, and Wrexham and its new sponsor Firefox should have many more chances to win on the pitch. Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source
to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds.



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