Episodes three and four of Welcome to Wrexham are all about change, literally and more literally. One reason English is so fun is that change can mean money or bringing in new choices. Episode three follows the money and episode four comes through as breath of fresh air. Both episodes spoke to me as a nominal Washington Football Fan. That franchise is a dumpster fire and the only glimmer of hope us fans see is change.
Intellectually I know that running a team costs money. Athlete salaries are only one expense among many. But when compared to the NFL or NBA with which I’m more familiar, Wrexham AFC is like a little league team. I’m used to taking it for granted a professional team has nearly unlimited spending potential. It’s so unlimited that salary caps and max contracts exist because these billionaire owners would spend more if they could. Deadpool and Always Sunny money is not nothing, but it’s not billions. Watching Rob and Ryan discuss and stress over the pitch maintenance bill was a nice peak behind the ownership curtain. Somebody has to eventually sign off on beer prices or stadium renovations. You see the importance of player contracts in Hard Knocks and Wrexham brings more perspectives to a team’s budget.
The two episodes also highlight the real change in ownership and how much it matters. I have no idea of the previous Wrexham owners. However, I’m sure they’re not as famous as the current owners. I hope to see more how Rob and Ryan leverage their star power to generate more money for the club. Without the revenue sharing that I’m used to in American sports, it seems strange that teams are responsible for their own income. Getting TikTok to sponsor a small Welsh football team only happens if the owners are famous. I also loved the Always Sunny cast cameos as Rob was promoting the team. The whole aspect of famous owners trying to grow a team is so intriguing and the opposite of an NFL team that is already enormous and grows the stature of the owners.
I responded viscerally to the fans’ reaction to the change in ownership. Their excitement to the change made me think of how Washington fans feel about Dan Snyder. A lot of people, including myself, think he’s the worst owner in American sports. We’ve been hoping he would sell the team for years. Nobody who supports Washington believes the team has any possibility of being relevant with Snyder in charge. And this is all before you remember what an awful human being he is. Supposedly I’m still a Washington fan because they’re the hometown team. But I’ve been down on them for over a decade now because of Snyder. Thankfully the league has decided that Snyder is failing even their atrocious disregard for decorum and decency and is done protecting him. Snyder seems to looking to finally sell the team which will probably go for around 6 billion dollars. It feels like an unfair reward to a terrible person who ruined a once proud franchise. Hopefully in the next few months I’ll get to feel like an excited Wrexham fan. Unfortunately the team will certainly be bought by another unpleasant billionaire (Jeff Bezos likely) and not two lovable Hollywood stars.
These two episodes revolving around the changing ownership and culture of Wrexham is making me reflect on absolute top-tier sports leagues. The amount of money involved in those leagues and the amount of money needed for ownership is starting to feel a little off putting. Even big-time college athletics which are supposed to be for amateurs is too tied in with great gobs of cash. It’s not bad enough yet to prevent me from watching, but it’s getting close.
The Keasy Depot 