Chris Heck - President of Business Operations

[wedge]

 

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

2 hours ago, MikeMcKenna said:

Thats not true though is it? The overcharging that people are complaining about would be nowhere near £13 to 14 million. The ‘extra’ money over the 4 games is more like £3 million.

Add that 3 million to lots of other bits which brings in hundreds of thousands and millions and it all adds up.

Also again, I'm talking about the full ticket prices because they are indeed extra games.

We aren't guaranteed to be in Champions League or Europe every season whichever way we spin it.

So the narrative of trying to lump them in as regular income is invalid imo.

And truthfully, even if was only 3 million, it's still 3 million... It's not nothing 

[TRO]

Just now, Rob182 said:

Not a problem at all mate! I just had to childishly say something as the funnily placed commas bugged me

I have edited a few quotes as a result of your quite right observations......do you know any good college classes?

As I was looking through them and I was laughing in derisory fashion as If it was somebody else's scribes.

Thanks mate.

[wedge]

I do find it hard to swallow that Heck is hiding behind PSR in his statement today.

 

Surely PSR can be successfully navigated without fleecing the fans? An 'official mattress/isotonic drink/home developer partner' deal worth a few million a year maybe? Being blunt it's also not the fans who submitted late accounts or sailed us close to the wind and close to a points deduction and it's not the fans who have any control over the club adhering to PSR.

 

What's pocket change to the club is massive for the normal fan, there has to be a middle ground, the direction of travel for the Premier League is horrendous if not!

Edited September 10 by wedge

[MrBlack]

2 hours ago, ender4 said:

I think Heck really is just oblivious to UK football and UK football fans.  He has the American mindset of sport just being an entertainment product that has consumers. He therefore just doesn’t get all the arguments about it being part of communities, families and generations. 
 

He also has that confidence that he is always right and therefore nothing will ever change his mind.   

When he was sacked from his previous job, he doesn’t think he was at fault and therefore doesn’t need to adapt in any way. 
 

However, he must bring something to the table which we haven’t yet seen, because NSWE did hire him.

There's an interesting interview with him posted a few weeks back where he talks about not understanding the English football fans when he came here. Saying he was shocked to get slated for doing something that he thought was minor (can't recall specifics but it's eye opening how ignorant he was).

Now, what he said in the video did suggest he'd understood where he'd gone wrong. However,  his actions since it was recorded haven't really indicated any progress.

He still seems to think we only care about Villa winning. And that we don't care about how much we pay to watch it, or the conditions we're forced to endure to get into or make use of the stadium.

As to why he was hired,  I suspect NSWE felt we needed to break some new ground with what we do, and he brought an American way of operating to do that. I doubt they're overly enamoured with how he's gone about some things, but overall they must think he is doing the right things more often than not. Will he see out his contract? I'm doubtful...

[Hobsons Choice]

I admit I'm no accountant, but given that our turnover last year was in the region of £240M, I'm not sure it's entirely wise to send a message to loyal fans that he's happy to price gouge them to increase our turnover by, what, 0.017% over the 4 games (based on figures for additional income posted on this thread)?

There's being prudent, and there is being a ruthless disloyal penny pincher. And I'm not sure this is prudent.

[Tomaszk]

8 minutes ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

Add that 3 million to lots of other bits which brings in hundreds of thousands and millions and it all adds up.

Also again, I'm talking about the full ticket prices because they are indeed extra games.

We aren't guaranteed to be in Champions League or Europe every season whichever way we spin it.

So the narrative of trying to lump them in as regular income is invalid imo.

And truthfully, even if was only 3 million, it's still 3 million... It's not nothing 

If Heck had set UCL prices at Cat A, there would literally not have been one media outlet interested.

He went up and beyond what was fair or needed.

The bottom line is... he's pissed a load of fans off and got loads of negative external attention on the club for ~£1m a game.

Is that a sensible move? Is that a move that will benefit us long term? It's a yes or no, and there are some people saying yes which is fair enough. It's a no from me though.

If he'd made £10m a game, at least he'd have a case!

[MrBlack]

Just now, Hobsons Choice said:

I admit I'm no accountant, but given that our turnover last year was in the region of £240M, I'm not sure it's entirely wise to send a message to loyal fans that he's happy to price gouge them to increase our turnover by, what, 0.017% over the 4 games (based on figures for additional income posted on this thread)?

There's being prudent, and there is being a ruthless disloyal penny pincher. And I'm not sure this is prudent.

Well our revenue should be 300m by the end of this season with the champs league prize money revenue, so it's actually even less.  We get €39m even if we lose every game.

Heck clearly did raise the prices to help meet his revenue target (and hence for PSR/SCR purposes), but he's a fool for doing so.

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

Fandom aside, I'm pretty sure that some of you are Business men and people in finance.

I refuse to believe that if you take your emotions out of it you don't see how every single bit of additional profit and cost saving across the board adds up.

Probably a crappy example this but a simple one.

If KFC gave you 10 less fries per meal,1 packet less of ketchup and increased the prices by 50 p, people would moan that they were being cheap and exploiitng customers.

Meanwhile they'd actually be saving millions whilst increasing profit for shareholders and the company.

Edited September 10 by JAMAICAN-VILLAN

[wedge]

1 minute ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

Fandom aside, I'm pretty sure that some of you are Business men and people in finance.

I refuse to believe that if you take your emotions out of it you don't see how every single bit of additional profit and cost saving across the board adds up.

Probably a crappy example this but a simple one.

If KFC gave you 10 less fries per meal,1 packet less of ketchup and increased the prices by 50 p, people would moan that they were being cheap,

Meanwhile they'd actually be saving millions whilst increasing profit.

Not disputing the actual bones of your point (no pun intended), but the difference is pissed off KFC customers could get their southern fried chicken and fries from elsewhere, football doesn't work like that, which is another reason why clubs exploiting the emotional connections fans have is wrong in my opinion.

[Pongo Waring]

3 minutes ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

Fandom aside, I'm pretty sure that some of you are Business men and people in finance.

I refuse to believe that if you take your emotions out of it you don't see how every single bit of additional profit and cost saving across the board adds up.

Probably a crappy example this but a simple one.

If KFC gave you 10 less fries per meal,1 packet less of ketchup and increased the prices by 50 p, people would moan that they were being cheap,

Meanwhile they'd actually be saving millions whilst increasing profit for shareholders and the company.

Even if KFC fries were 2p, I would moan. They're horrible. Heck would sort them out 

Edited September 10 by Pongo Waring

[sidcow]

4 hours ago, OutByEaster? said:

We don't have a training kit sponsor, we have a limited number of partners, we don't have a sponsor for Bodymoor Heath, or a sponsor for our ladies team - the single biggest source of income in the Premier league is sponsorships and partnerships - it brings in more revenue than the TV money does - and we're pretty threadbare there. That's Mr Heck's job, and for the lack of being able to find £400,000 worth of additional sponsorship, he's upset the fanbase, dragged the name of the club through the mud and killed a whole lot of the positivity about the place that's making us attractive to sponsors in the first place.

At the moment, we're paying for Heck's shortcomings, the shortfall is in the sponsorships he hasn't secured and it's not sustainable to keep punching downwards instead.

 

Sorry OBE was going to re-post in the FAB meeting thread but found it locked. 

If not too late I'd like a specific question asked about exactly WHY we haven't got these sponsorships. It's hard to imagine that literally no companies are interested. Something is better than nothing. 

Edited September 10 by sidcow

[lainux]

22 minutes ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

Fandom aside, I'm pretty sure that some of you are Business men and people in finance.

I refuse to believe that if you take your emotions out of it you don't see how every single bit of additional profit and cost saving across the board adds up.

Probably a crappy example this but a simple one.

If KFC gave you 10 less fries per meal,1 packet less of ketchup and increased the prices by 50 p, people would moan that they were being cheap and exploiitng customers.

Meanwhile they'd actually be saving millions whilst increasing profit for shareholders and the company.

At least the toilets in the KFC would probably work and not be flowing with piss!

[MikeMcKenna]

47 minutes ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

Add that 3 million to lots of other bits which brings in hundreds of thousands and millions and it all adds up.

Also again, I'm talking about the full ticket prices because they are indeed extra games.

We aren't guaranteed to be in Champions League or Europe every season whichever way we spin it.

So the narrative of trying to lump them in as regular income is invalid imo.

And truthfully, even if was only 3 million, it's still 3 million... It's not nothing 

Sorry that is a bit laughable, no-one is saying we shouldn’t pay a fair amount for the tickets.  The complaint many have is that the club is charging excessively and well excess of other PL/CL clubs. The approx £3 mill is relatively little in the scheme of things to the club but a lot of money to some fans, especially those with families.

[TDR V2]

1 hour ago, TRO said:

I still have the debt at the Bank......just kidding, but I am sure you get my point.

Nick....I just have a nagging feeling they didn't want to do this....and it keeps coming back at me.

I don't believe anyone wants to stifle this feel good factor, but contractual commitments like players wages and other things might leave some options closed.

I think Chris Heck could, and Emphasise could, be an easy target due to our ire.

PS No disrespect to anyone out there, but I have never found financial people the life and soul of the party.

He's a wrong un, the sooner he's found out the better. What he can get away with across the pond is different to here. He chose to wait to make that statement until the GA tickets had sold out, it's our own fault for buying the bloody things. The financials don't add up to this supposed massive difference, £25-£30 less would have made similar money and wouldn't have resulted in a seriously pissed off fan base. 

I'm all for boycotting the last league stage game and leave the ground empty. Especially if we have qualified for at least a play-off 

[nick76]

47 minutes ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

Fandom aside, I'm pretty sure that some of you are Business men and people in finance.

I refuse to believe that if you take your emotions out of it you don't see how every single bit of additional profit and cost saving across the board adds up.

Probably a crappy example this but a simple one.

 

Heck as CEO pissing off regular customers isn’t good business sense.  

He has to get balance right and also massively increase his communication skills (or get somebody to do that for him).

[Villa_Vids]

Just now, nick76 said:

Heck as CEO pissing off regular customers isn’t good business sense.  

He has to get balance right and also massively increase his communication skills (or get somebody to do that for him).

What happened to the rumour of Adrian Filby from Celtic joining the club?

[thunderball]

Congratulations on selling out the stadium and generating valuable extra income for the club, despite the hysteria you called it right. There are tens maybe hundreds of thousands of Villa fans who would gratefully have paid the asking price or more to watch Villa in the Champion's league. 
 

I really can’t believe the fans begrudge paying an extra £15-20 a ticket more than they expected for a generational experience of premium European football, that is going straight into the clubs coffers and not some Glazer-esque dividend or interest payment, so over time we are not selling the next Douglas Luiz.  
 

I know a lot on here won’t like that but that’s how I feel. 

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

9 minutes ago, thunderball said:

Congratulations on selling out the stadium and generating valuable extra income for the club, despite the hysteria you called it right. There are tens maybe hundreds of thousands of Villa fans who would gratefully have paid the asking price or more to watch Villa in the Champion's league. 
 

I really can’t believe the fans begrudge paying an extra £15-20 a ticket more than they expected for a generational experience of premium European football, that is going straight into the clubs coffers and not some Glazer-esque dividend or interest payment, so over time we are not selling the next Douglas Luiz.  
 

I know a lot on here won’t like that but that’s how I feel. 

Kudos for having the thunder balls to post this.

You're probably going to be slaughtered and labeled though lol

[Keener window-cleaner]

1 hour ago, Pongo Waring said:

Even if KFC fries were 2p, I would moan. They're horrible. Heck would sort them out 

Oh no, keep Heck out of KFC! I love it and would happily pay twice the price or more to get that crunchy golden chicken!