Mark & Kelly. Running with the Wolves.
They’re guests at the ABC News studios, under the quiet lights of one of America’s most respected newsrooms. Mark Consuelos and Kelly Ripa — partners in life and now in business — are there to present their latest adventure: Running with the Wolves, the ESPN docuseries that chronicles their journey with the Italian football club Campobasso FC.
The journalist teases them with a pointed question:
“What’s harder — being married for 29 years or running a football team?”
Mark and Kelly laugh, then answer in perfect unison:
“Running a football team. One hundred percent.”
Mark adds, smiling: “I mean, there are plenty of fringe benefits to being married for 29 years… football doesn’t come with any of those.”
Mark Consuelos and Kelly Ripa — the king and queen of American talk shows — are embarking on a new journey, one that challenges them far beyond the spotlight. Their story — personal, entrepreneurial, emotional — now runs through Campobasso: a small Italian town, a forgotten team, and a dream that tastes like a wild gamble.
That’s where Running with the Wolves begins: the ESPN docuseries that follows Mark and Kelly as they take on their role as co-owners of Campobasso FC, a Serie C club that had teetered on the edge of extinction — and now dares to hope again. A bold, sincere project built more on heart than calculation.
“This team is part of my story.”
Mark doesn’t hide his emotion: “Campobasso is a tribute to my mother, who’s Italian, and to the afternoons I spent playing football here as a kid. There’s something deeply personal in all of this.”
But it’s not just nostalgia.
When their children — Michael, Lola, and Joaquin — grew up and left the nest, Mark and Kelly found themselves with something rare: time, energy, and the desire to build something meaningful together.
“Ten years ago, we couldn’t have done it,” Kelly admits. “We were too wrapped up in our careers and our kids’ dreams. But now… now it’s our time to dream together.”
An underdog story (that never asks for permission)
The ABC journalist puts it bluntly: this is a Welcome to Wrexham-style story — referencing the popular docuseries with Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, where an overlooked football club becomes the heartbeat of a town.
Mark chuckles: “I wish I could’ve asked Reynolds for advice… they always win.”
And in that smile lies the whole underdog spirit: starting from the bottom, no guarantees, just belief.
“Campobasso was on the verge of losing its identity. And being able to help rebuild even a small part of that… felt bigger than sports. Bigger than the cameras.”
The hardest part? Letting people down. Making the call.
But it’s not all storybook magic. There’s also the hard part — tough decisions, the weight of expectations, the responsibility toward the city.
“Sometimes you have to make unpopular choices, knowing the consequences will play out two, three years down the line. You have to earn people’s trust. And that’s not easy, especially in a place that’s been burned so many times before.”
And yet, it’s in the mud of risk where the real bonds are born. Like the one with Goffredo Iorio, the groundskeeper, who’s become a bit of a local legend — and clearly, a favorite of Kelly’s.
“I adore him,” she says. “Watching him work, with that passion and dedication, really changed me.”
“I adore him too,” the journalist jumps in.
Mark adds: “Goffredo’s a star. And he helped us win the award for best pitch. He’s the real deal.”
“Don’t tell anyone, but Mark is good at everything.”
And then there’s the private view — the one only a wife can offer. In the first episode, Kelly says: “Don’t tell anyone, but Mark is good at everything.”
“He understands Italian football, he’s played it. But more than that, he sees the details where I see chaos. It’s like he already has a plan, even when things feel out of control.”
While the series tells the story of Campobasso — its people, its fans, its struggles and its hope — it also tells the story of a couple who never stopped growing together. Reinventing. Pushing each other toward new horizons.
This isn’t just a sports series.
It’s a love story.
And like every great love story — it starts in the one place no one was looking