Wrexham vs. Twitter: a study in contrasts
Twitter is top of mind for many in the technology industry and beyond as Elon Musk just bought it, and has proceeded to gut it. Many of us in the Twitter community are horrified. As long time users we feel betrayed by the way Musk has approached his purchase. His firing of the staff, his reinstatement of awful people on the platform, and his very public bungling of the blue checkmark (among others) has left us reeling. Advertisers, his primary source of revenue, have left in droves. Many people have written about Musk’s approach here, and at least one article likened it to a bull in a china shop. I won’t be going into too much depth on Musk here, a simple Google search will reveal numerous articles.
In sharp contrast to Musk’s “move fast and break things” approach is the purchase of the Wrexham football club by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. I just binged the show and although I knew that they’d bought the team, I was unaware of the details. Here’s a trailer for Welcome to Wrexham but in summary Ryan and Rob made a documentary of their purchase and first season owning the club. They spend a good deal of time talking about why they did it, episodes highlight the lives of the people in or involved with the team, and they provide some history of the Welsh town of Wrexham, engaging the viewer with the story of the purchase in the context of the town and Wales itself.
Unlike Twitter, Rob and Ryan were very aware of how their purchase of the club would affect the Wrexham community and they were transparent about how they might be received, especially early in the documentary. They engaged the people of Wrexham and understood how the effect they were having. This was expressed as they clearly took the time to get to know folks in the town and include them in the story they were telling on the show. Part of this story was promotion… moving Wrexham up and out of their current level in the National League.
It was clear that they needed to spend money to achieve this goal and for a depressed community like Wrexham, this was going to be significant and time-consuming.
Always design a thing by considering it in its next larger context — a chair in a room, a room in a house, a house in an environment, an environment in a city plan. — Eliel Saarinen
As a designer, I always look at things through the lens of design and the above quote is pertinent as it suggests that Rob and Ryan were after a more substantive approach to their new team.
The Wrexham stadium (The Racehorse Ground) would have be updated and remodeled. They started with the pitch and worked their way into the stands. Along the way they met with the people of the town, including them as part of the documentary. They point out the low wages of the team members at this league level and the players’ efforts to keep up their houses and families. Rob and Ryan introduce viewers to team members, townspeople, business owners, and themselves as part of the show but take it several steps further. Episode seven in season 1 is called the Wide World of Wales. This episode kindly parodies the ABC Television Wide World of Sports and acts as a kind of commercial for tourism to Wales! In addition to learning to cook a traditional Welsh dish and learning some of the language, they had Charlotte Church sing the Welsh anthem. She’s a Welsh singing legend.
Rob and Ryan also knew they would have to address the needs of the team and that meant some hard decisions about the staff. As they got to know these people and make staff decisions, they treated these changes with as much grace as can be achieved in these situations. There’s an episode where they sit down with some folks in the local pub and as they drink shots, one person offers a harsh criticism of the former business manager of the team who was replaced. As Rob and Ryan had gotten to know the man and seemingly disagree with his assessment, Ryan comes back with a quick quip to diffuse the comment. But it’s clear that they’re open to exactly this type of feedback and engage these people, rather than get overly defensive. The former manager even makes an appearance in a later episode. Just because he was no longer with the team, didn’t mean he wasn’t still a fan and part of the community. Musk fired people who had the audacity to criticize him on Twitter and Slack.
Promotion out of the National League would also take time. The first set of matches from their first full season as owners didn’t go well. There was a
lot of discomfort and a level of anger apparent among the people of the town in a couple of the episodes. There are questions for the new owners. But Rob and Ryan are careful to address the elephant in the room. They even take an episode to talk about hooliganism. It’s an awful part of the sport made worse when a team isn’t winning. With the economy of the town depressed, Wrexham has its share of hooliganism. In this episode, they highlight how this affects a couple…the man has traditionally been a hooligan and the woman was attempting to become a detective. The couple struggles as his activities destroy her chances to get the job. This is a microcosm of the town as a whole and strangely, there are parallels to Twitter. Kanye West was reinstated on Twitter and greeted by Musk warmly. Subsequently, he was suspended again for posting a Swastika. What is West but an anti-Semitic hooligan?
Ultimately success has metrics and while I pointed out earlier that Twitter lost advertisers, Wrexham gained two major ones in Tik Tok and Expedia.com, not to mention Aviation Gin, another of Reynolds’ companies. According to the LA Times, in response to the investment, season ticket sales have tripled and the game attendance averages 10k people. The unemployment rate is 3.9%, a third lower than it was a decade ago. Wrexham has been granted city status and in an episode later in the documentary, King Charles visits. Yet another achievement is that New World Sports put 25m into a new headquarters in Wrexham. So although correlation is not causation, I think you can make a pretty strong case that Rob and Ryan’s investment in the team, has begun to benefit the town.
All of this will serve Wrexham’s ability to attract more top-tier talent for the team, and further build the community. The season ends with Wrexham coming close to, but not getting, promoted. Ryan, Rob, and the town are all disappointed but Rob and Ryan were there to hug team members and share the disappointment. This may be a case where sincerity trumps money. It appears that the new owners are genuine and come to love the team and town just as much as the people living there. So Musk spent 44 billion for Twitter, his management style has appeared reckless…at best. People are leaving Twitter almost as fast as advertisers.
A more measured, holistic investment has bought Rob and Ryan a foundation for a future prosperity. I look forward to season 2 of the documentary and seeing Wrexham promoted. I’m rooting for not only the team, but the town, and the successful redesign of Wrexham.
