Chris Heck - President of Business Operations

[Don_Simon]

1 hour ago, Tomaszk said:

Any actions in particular he's taken to make you sure?

Off the top of my head, development of GA+ facilities to augment revenue into the future, better sponsorship deals for now and in the future, there's probably others.

[Don_Simon]

2 hours ago, MrBlack said:

Yeah, we defintely didn't do that with the north stand or villa live. Admittedly that was the old CEO, but we've got form for it under these owners. 

Back in topic, Heck needs to be capitalising on our great start and getting those sponsors on board that will be able to get the reflected glory of our impending run to the knock out stages of this tournament. Before we play Bayern. 

Obviously, if we beat Bayern he can start targeting better still :).

I'm not sure we can blame Heck for the actions of those before him, so this isn't relevant.

[Tomaszk]

31 minutes ago, Don_Simon said:

Off the top of my head, development of GA+ facilities to augment revenue into the future, better sponsorship deals for now and in the future, there's probably others.

Oh yeah. I remember when he found that derelict part of VP. What a fine explorer he is.

I see that as pretty instant decision and result. 

If you see that as a sign he's got Villa's best interests at heart for 2030 onwards, fair enough.

[fightoffyour]

19 hours ago, allani said:

So (playing Devil's advocate here) is VT saying that Heck should be sacked

Yes

[rodders0223]

I'd like to know how much money he has cost us in the long run by increasing corporate prices by a truly abhorrent amount and what's the plan when results and performances inevitably tail off as do the punters?

 

[thabucks]

40 minutes ago, rodders0223 said:

I'd like to know how much money he has cost us in the long run by increasing corporate prices by a truly abhorrent amount and what's the plan when results and performances inevitably tail off as do the punters?

 

This makes no sense past a personal vendetta against Heck - how can he have cost us money by increasing corporate prices and sales will show that it’s isn’t an abhorrent amount. You may like them or can afford them but the demand is there obviously at the current prices.
 

And I think the plan is to stay competitive so performances don’t tail off and you cannot legislate for the fickle nature of footy fans. Also if when it comes to that I’m sure he’ll be long gone and he will have seemed his remit and leave us in a better financial position like it or not. 

[nick76]

17 minutes ago, thabucks said:

he will have seemed his remit and leave us in a better financial position like it or not. 

This is to be seen as many CEO’s don’t at football clubs.  

If he’s not around for long we know he hasn’t, although he may only have a short contract anyway.  Sometimes companies bring in transition/interim CEO’s or consultants to make the hard changes quickly, this may be his role before a long term CEO comes in that doesn’t offend so many.  He could also be here for a long term.  

Anyway whatever the case we have to wait to a period after he leaves to see if he leaves us in a better position financially.  This isn’t against Heck but just general CEO’s of this kind.

[Marka Ragnos]

I haven't seen reliable data on this, but my suspicion is that there are now more Villa fans outside the UK than inside -- or will soon be, the longer we can linger in the CL. Dramatic, bittersweet changes are coming. Every CL match is huge for our global clout. The Premier League is English -- but it's also not English at all. It's growing outside the UK in a way perhaps no other domestic league on earth can boast of. That's where Heck should be focused -- growth outside the UK.

It's sadly inevitable that the local fan base are going to feel disoriented or alienated during this period of expansion, and I think Heck needs to be careful, as it could end up reflecting on the bigger international picture, too. "Focused on international" doesn't mean "ignore the locals."

Still, we've really only had some bumps on the road that are part of internationalisaton. The ticket price debacle was painful to locals, but Villa are also becoming something they've never been before, even in the early 80s -- and that's a truly global football club. I know it sounds harsh, but the local Villans will need to accept that that's what they in fact wanted and created, too, but we're still in transition and there are gong to be unpleasant adjustments to bridge gaps in revenue, I would think. It's like locally crowd-funding an aeroplane to travel overseas before you can really start raking in the overseas passenger ticket money. Until that first flight, the locals have to pay for the aeroplane. I'm sentimentally grateful to the Villans back in Brum, but once the "Villa aeroplane" picks me up in New York City, and I've paid my ticket, I don't really care about the sacrifices that went into funding it initially. As harsh as it sounds, I honestly don't give a **** about your tickets. I got mine. It's on the telly. 

For me, the main sword of Damocles that should apply to Chris Heck is whether or not he exploits our much-hoped-for CL and PL successes internationally -- outside the UK -- which is where the real growth opportunities lie. Personally, I think the jury is still out on that particular question and it will take time to become clear, but so far, I feel optimistic. The day will come, I just know it, when I never have to explain what Villa are to sport fans where I live.

Edited yesterday at 16:05 by Marka Ragnos

[Hank Scorpio]

Fans outside Europe won't care about villa if we only manage CL once.

[Marka Ragnos]

Just now, Hank Scorpio said:

Fans outside Europe won't care about villa if we only manage CL once.

 I mostly agree, but even once is better than none. We've got to get "on the beach" in Europe and plan to stay.

[villa4europe]

6 hours ago, rodders0223 said:

I'd like to know how much money he has cost us in the long run by increasing corporate prices by a truly abhorrent amount and what's the plan when results and performances inevitably tail off as do the punters?

Reduce the prices...

Are we back to talking about supply and demand? He will charge as much as he can as long as VP is full, if the numbers drop so will the prices, relatively simple 

The plan is also that despite pricing out the established older fan base he's opened it up for potential newer fans to come see games for the first time or get STs for the first time or casual fans catch the bug, he's in theory expanding the fan base with expensive tickets, I'd love to know how many uni students in the city for a 3 year stint get villa tickets while they're here, how many of them fancy a CL game and don't really care about the cost 

Should we decline the increased fan base should ensure we still get good numbers 

And then these new **** can experience the pain and suffering us established lot are used to 

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

5 hours ago, Hank Scorpio said:

Fans outside Europe won't care about villa if we only manage CL once.

Like a Jamaican who has diligently followed Villa for over 30 years all the way from Jamaica to the Middle East ?

I think people would be surprised how many of " my type " of Villa fan exist worldwide.

I know we aren't as appreciated as we aren't at the ground but doesn't make us any less valid 

Especially in this modern era where support from a distance is even easier we actually do add alot of value.

[grantholtgolazo]

5 hours ago, Hank Scorpio said:

Fans outside Europe won't care about villa if we only manage CL once.

Not sure about that, only anecdotal, but from where I am in the US, I see more Newcastle kits than any other prem side barring Liverpool or city maybe.

A good story/branding, a nice kit, and some exposure can go a long way here.

[Marka Ragnos]

5 minutes ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

I think people would be surprised how many of " my type " of Villa fan exist worldwide.

I think fans like you are where it's at nowadays. The UK fan base must be pretty finite?

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

20 minutes ago, Marka Ragnos said:

I think fans like you are where it's at nowadays. The UK fan base must be pretty finite?

I meet the most random Villa fans whenever I've travelled.

When we played pre season in Abu Dhabi I met a group.of Korean Villa fans who could barely speak a word of English aside from " Up the Villa " and were fully kitted out

Just as an example.

[OutByEaster?]

1 hour ago, villa4europe said:

Are we back to talking about supply and demand? He will charge as much as he can as long as VP is full.

That's not what he's doing though.

The Bayern game would have sold out at £150 per ticket, but they didn't price it at that - somewhere along the line there's a point where the money on its own isn't worth what the ticket prices say about the club and the ownership. That they didn't price Bayern higher is proof of that. The question is who decides on that line between revenue and value, how do they come to those conclusions and are those conclusions right? I'd say in this case, particularly with the tickets for non-season ticket holders, they got it wrong.

 

 

[OutByEaster?]

1 hour ago, villa4europe said:

The plan is also that despite pricing out the established older fan base he's opened it up for potential newer fans to....get STs for the first time.

Sorry to pick on your post, but just on this, the club have offered maybe 100 new season tickets in the last two years and I wouldn't expect any at all in the next five years.There really aren't new season ticket holders - it's not a thing.

If 1,000 people decide not to pay next year's season ticket prices, the club will sell 1,000 less season tickets.

Heck, in line with much of the league, is working very hard to reduce the number of season ticket holders he has - in the modern Premier League, season ticket holders, spending the least money for the best seats, are a parasite.

I would expect at some point that a club will simply end them - not sure who, probably someone like Fulham, but I really hope it isn't us.

[bannedfromHandV]

3 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said:

Sorry to pick on your post, but just on this, the club have offered maybe 100 new season tickets in the last two years and I wouldn't expect any at all in the next five years.There really aren't new season ticket holders - it's not a thing.

If 1,000 people decide not to pay next year's season ticket prices, the club will sell 1,000 less season tickets.

Heck, in line with much of the league, is working very hard to reduce the number of season ticket holders he has - in the modern Premier League, season ticket holders, spending the least money for the best seats, are a parasite.

I would expect at some point that a club will simply end them - not sure who, probably someone like Fulham, but I really hope it isn't us.

Shit I’d never even considered the removal of ST’s but that feels like a very real possibility now you’ve raised it.

Wouldn’t affect me directly as I’m no longer one and haven’t been for over a decade but that really will be a sad day if it comes to pass.

[Tomaszk]

7 hours ago, fightoffyour said:

They need to work on their SEO game. If you Google "avfc tickets", the top result is:

https://www.avfc.co.uk/fans/fans-charter/ticketing

Rather than the ticket site. Anyway, I can't see any of the European fixtures listed here:

https://tickets.avfc.co.uk/hospitality

Wouldn't it better to have it listed but say "sold out" if that's the case? Otherwise you end up going round in circles on the site looking for a page that doesn't (?) exist

As has been said before, it feels like there's a member or two missing of staff.

Or possibly, the ones we have, like Heck, are just not very good at their job.

Raising pennies on gouging fans when pounds are available from sponsors.

Having an amateur online presence/setup when that is the other major revenue generator.

@OutByEaster? any word on FAB minutes to read the sanctimonious lies about ticket prices helping PSR?

Edited 32 minutes ago by Tomaszk

[CVByrne]

17 hours ago, OutByEaster? said:

Sorry to pick on your post, but just on this, the club have offered maybe 100 new season tickets in the last two years and I wouldn't expect any at all in the next five years.There really aren't new season ticket holders - it's not a thing.

If 1,000 people decide not to pay next year's season ticket prices, the club will sell 1,000 less season tickets.

Heck, in line with much of the league, is working very hard to reduce the number of season ticket holders he has - in the modern Premier League, season ticket holders, spending the least money for the best seats, are a parasite.

I would expect at some point that a club will simply end them - not sure who, probably someone like Fulham, but I really hope it isn't us.

I'm sorry but this is bullshit OBE. Fear mongering as if Season Tickets will end. There are people who are picking up season tickets for the first time if someone else doesn't renew. Season ticket holders are needed as you need a core set of fans going to all the games. Those tickets would be subsidised and that will continue.

To start saying the club sees ticket holders as parasites is just bullshit and you know it. The club can and does control the price of season tickets and they know season ticket holders are a key part of the fabric of the club.

Edited 18 minutes ago by CVByrne