Chris Heck - President of Business Operations

[CVByrne]

What I like about Heck is he's clearly on a different level in terms of skills and experience and drive than Purslow and his team. I feel we do have elite people in all branches of the club now. I believe Heck when he says we're coming for that 400m mark I think we were on about 265m last season. I do feel a focus on the US Market he knows so well and the timing of the World Cup there in 2 years is a big help. McKennie arriving can add to that marketing also having a US player. 

All work to Villa Park looks great and can't wait for the fanzone in April/May 

[Dale]

5 minutes ago, CVByrne said:

What I like about Heck is he's clearly on a different level in terms of skills and experience and drive than Purslow and his team

Derived from what? You forget Purslow has driven some of the best commercial sponsorships in the history of this league. Steadied a very rocky boat on his arrival. Heck is certainly more stereotypically American in his approach, by which I mean ruthless in pursuit of goals with little regard for stakeholders and the industry and it's culture and is far more abrasive/less affable... Also picked up a much easier hand and much smaller role. 

If Unai wasn't so damn good, Heck would be copping a lot of flack right now! 

[CVByrne]

3 minutes ago, Dale said:

Derived from what? You forget Purslow has driven some of the best commercial sponsorships in the history of this league. Steadied a very rocky boat on his arrival. Heck is certainly more stereotypically American in his approach, by which I mean ruthless in pursuit of goals with little regard for stakeholders and the industry and it's culture and is far more abrasive/less affable... Also picked up a much easier hand and much smaller role. 

If Unai wasn't so damn good, Heck would be copping a lot of flack right now! 

Purslow was more focussed on the football side. Wanted to keep all transfers secret and be one to announce them himself. Wanted to be vocal mostly about football. Focus a lot with that side of the club. Heck has a proven track record of commerical growth year over year and leaves the football to the football experts.

NSWE have made some excellent appointments across the club.

 

[OutByEaster?]

50 minutes ago, CVByrne said:

Purslow was more focussed on the football side. Wanted to keep all transfers secret and be one to announce them himself. Wanted to be vocal mostly about football. Focus a lot with that side of the club. Heck has a proven track record of commerical growth year over year and leaves the football to the football experts.

NSWE have made some excellent appointments across the club.

 

The change to the role to remove responsibilities for anything on the football side was a really good move from the owners, I think over time Purslow's desire to get more and more involved in the football side of things was his undoing and I really like that we now leave that to the people who do football, Vidagany, Emery, Monchi and the team at Bodymoor.

Heck is doing well in terms of his commercial deals and his absolute focus on increasing revenues - but he has some way to go before he matches Purslow's record in terms of the deals that Purslow made for Liverpool and Chelsea.

The game is moving quickly and the 'income generator' is becoming as much a part of success as the football organisation - we'll need Heck to keep pressing on, to keep upping his game, keep lifting the club and keep on driving, even if that's occasionally to the detriment of the match going fan - if we're in it to win it rather than for the day out, then he's a big part of our future or a necessary evil depending on the way you look at it.

He's good at what he does and I think he can provide a platform for success, I don't know whether I'll be able to afford to watch it at Villa Park, but I think he can make a difference that makes it more likely.

[allani]

1 hour ago, OutByEaster? said:

The change to the role to remove responsibilities for anything on the football side was a really good move from the owners, I think over time Purslow's desire to get more and more involved in the football side of things was his undoing and I really like that we now leave that to the people who do football, Vidagany, Emery, Monchi and the team at Bodymoor.

Heck is doing well in terms of his commercial deals and his absolute focus on increasing revenues - but he has some way to go before he matches Purslow's record in terms of the deals that Purslow made for Liverpool and Chelsea.

The game is moving quickly and the 'income generator' is becoming as much a part of success as the football organisation - we'll need Heck to keep pressing on, to keep upping his game, keep lifting the club and keep on driving, even if that's occasionally to the detriment of the match going fan - if we're in it to win it rather than for the day out, then he's a big part of our future or a necessary evil depending on the way you look at it.

He's good at what he does and I think he can provide a platform for success, I don't know whether I'll be able to afford to watch it at Villa Park, but I think he can make a difference that makes it more likely.

I agree with pretty much all of this.  My only slight difference of opinion is that I think we'll come to see that Atairos will turn out to be a massive difference for us - maybe all the benefits won't immediately look like they directly impact on our commercial numbers as there will be plenty of work that they do to make us more efficient and effective that won't impact the bottom line as obviously (but in reality will do).  I suspect that their involvement in some projects might also not be obvious - for example the LED installation

Obviously NSWE initiated the Atairos deal but it sounds like Heck was heavily involved in using his contacts there to help with building the relationship, completing the details and getting the contract signed.  I think ultimately this agreement will be THE most important deal Villa make (after agreeing to NSWE taking over the ownership of the club) and will certainly rival those deals that you talk of above - in part because Chelsea and Liverpool were already established in the Top 6 whereas our deal came when we were still dark horses rather than part of the "elite".

[Tomaszk]

4 hours ago, wishywashy said:

https://www.thedrum.com/news/2024/07/01/aston-villa-rolls-out-new-fans-first-identity-it-repositions-global-brand?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Definitely an.. interesting view of the badge debacle set out by Heck in this interview.

He'd already previously made the claim that he was unaware of the redesign before taking over (which given his remit and the publicity of the redesign seems a bit difficult to believe) but now there's a suggestion that it wasn't him that dropped it? Eh?

Also had a giggle at this. Like, hello?

 

He's an absolute weapon this guy.

Loves the smell of his own farts and there's enough fans around applauding price increases it's no wonder.

Wow, what incredible vision. Whacking prices up. Who could have had that idea.

Now lying again. Trying to distance himself from this hilariously shit badge.

His approach will really hurt the team if we hit a sticky patch.

Edited Monday at 13:14 by Tomaszk

[ender4]

https://www.thedrum.com/news/2024/07/01/aston-villa-rolls-out-new-fans-first-identity-it-repositions-global-brand?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Quote

Aston Villa rolls out new ‘fans-first’ identity as it repositions as global brand

“I think about the club’s history and the core fan before anything else. I always wince when I see that a brand has been altered because there’s a new person in charge or there’s a new direction in marketing just to shake things up.”

The new crest replaces a very short-lived one designed by design agency Dragon Rouge and used on last season’s shirt, which The Drum understands was part of a much bigger identity system that was delivered but never used.

Heck says he doesn’t know why this suite of work was dropped but confirms that the new work, which began to appear last season and will roll out fully this coming season, has all been done in-house.

What has he been smoking?

[Steero113]

54 minutes ago, Tomaszk said:

He's an absolute weapon this guy.

Loves the smell of his own farts and there's enough fans around applauding price increases it's no wonder.

Wow, what incredible vision. Whacking prices up. Who could have had that idea.

Now lying again. Trying to distance himself from this hilariously shit badge.

His approach will really hurt the team if we hit a sticky patch.

Absolutely no doubt that the guys a bit of a moron. 

But I cannot get my head around the derision over price rises and increases in hospitality in the ground, has the PSR shit from Luiz taught us nothing?

What else is possible to grow revenue without building the N. Stand which would take years and actually hit revenue up front?

[Captain_Townsend]

59 minutes ago, Tomaszk said:

He's an absolute weapon this guy.

Loves the smell of his own farts and there's enough fans around applauding price increases it's no wonder.

Wow, what incredible vision. Whacking prices up. Who could have had that idea.

Now lying again. Trying to distance himself from this hilariously shit badge.

His approach will really hurt the team if we hit a sticky patch.

Fan since I was 7 in 94.Our best season since 1995-96 but I have never felt more alienated from Aston Villa. I am also an international fan, the type he supposedly wants to attract. 

Edited Monday at 14:11 by Captain_Townsend

[rodders0223]

He's everything that's wrong with the modern world.

[Tomaszk]

18 minutes ago, Steero113 said:

Absolutely no doubt that the guys a bit of a moron. 

But I cannot get my head around the derision over price rises and increases in hospitality in the ground, has the PSR shit from Luiz taught us nothing?

What else is possible to grow revenue without building the N. Stand which would take years and actually hit revenue up front?

You can have price rises. I accept that.

Cheapest season tickets have gone up over 70% in five years. 

Cheapest match tickets have gone up 75% in five years.

I think that's enough to be honest. It will start to affect the team soon enough. People won't pay these prices and be happy with two bad performances in a row. And it's football, we're likely to have that. We probably won't win 15 flipping games in a row at home for another 40 years.

Heck. Don't be a dick and lie, saying you're going to raise them 5% when you're raising them 40%.

The badge thing was and is a disgrace. Now he's trying to distance himself from it.

[MadridVilla]

1 hour ago, Steero113 said:

Absolutely no doubt that the guys a bit of a moron. 

But I cannot get my head around the derision over price rises and increases in hospitality in the ground, has the PSR shit from Luiz taught us nothing?

What else is possible to grow revenue without building the N. Stand which would take years and actually hit revenue up front?

Prize money, sponsorships, TV are worth more than matchday revenue. Why squeeze fans for every penny when there are many other avenues open to the club to increase revenue (which they have done with Adidas etc).

The other factor is that Heck said on multiple occasions a 5% rise was very modest and spoke as if he was being generous; that is still a lot of extra money for families to find and suggests that next year it might be even more. 

[Captain_Townsend]

7 minutes ago, calcifer said:

It's a shame that in a few years the average working class fan will be priced out if going to watch the club they love.

Put in the price of a match day tickets for you and your lad. Food drink transport etc you looking in excess of £160 Not everyone had that kind of disposal income, in a few years that will be over £200. 

But that's the price of success! We need revenue and it's a quick fix.

 

 

There are no guarantees of success. In 2010 people thought Lerner had it sussed. A few years later we were in the Championship, glad of our loyal support. If things don't work out medium term they will be banking on the core fans still being there. Well.

I hate the way they have gone about things over the past year. It stings. They have almost gone out of their way to not bring fans with them.

Edited Monday at 16:43 by Captain_Townsend

[calcifer]

10 minutes ago, Captain_Townsend said:

There are no guarantees of success. In 2010 people thought Lerner had it sussed. A few years later we were in the Championship, glad of our loyal support. If things don't work out medium term they will be banking on the core fans still being there. Well.

I hate the way they have gone about things over the past year. It stings. They have almost gone out of their way to not bring fans with them.

I agree, we could finish 8th this season, outside the European spaces. I think Heck would still increase the tickets as his job is to increase revenue, the easiest way to do this is for the fans to stump up more.

Sponsorship comes with success (or fraud, but we are doing things by the book) we need to be consistent but it's not a given that we will finish top 6.

But there has to be a point where even the most loyal fan will be like, I can't afford this? 

 

[CVByrne]

4 hours ago, rodders0223 said:

He's everything that's wrong with the modern world.

He's one of the best appointments this club has made. If he can get us to 400m in revenue in 3 years he's a complete and utter hero. 

[Tomaszk]

26 minutes ago, CVByrne said:

He's one of the best appointments this club has made. If he can get us to 400m in revenue in 3 years he's a complete and utter hero. 

Funnily enough. I knew you'd think this.

[Jas10]

4 hours ago, rodders0223 said:

He's everything that's wrong with the modern world.

 

29 minutes ago, CVByrne said:

He's one of the best appointments this club has made. 

From one extreme to another.

Classic VT.

[Captain_Townsend]

Here's a novel approach to how I judge Chris Heck. It's how much criticism would he get for taking different decisions to the ones he has taken. For example:

1. Say he stuck to the North stand development as planned. Would people today be saying 'oh what a bad decision. What are we doing? Why did the new guy not back out and instead focus on tidying the old stand and pushing up prices in it?". Highly unlikely. We'd be saying. OK, we are breaking a few eggs right now but we will have a nice omelette before we know it and the bigger, more modern stadium will enable us to sort out our revenue issues and help us compete with the likes of Spurs long term

2. Say he had stuck with the round badge, or if he was  so inclined,  decided to improve it rather than scrap it. Would people today be saying "what a mistake. Why didn't the new guy just reinstate the old badge concept we had from 2007? What a bad decision!". Highly unlikely.  We'd be moving on and we'd be getting used to it and we would have avoided a lot if unnecessary distraction and argument.

3. Look prices rises, yes these were inevitable but I think they would be more palatable if you knew the ground capacity was about to increase quite imminently and that presumably  once it was finished the prices in the Holte could be frozen so there was part of the stadium available at a more reasonable price once the new NS was finished. 

I get it. Some people like big leaders who make big testosterone fuelled decisions like he has. But my concern (and it really is the only concern I have at the moment an Aston Villa fan) is that this would be the playback of someone thinking of their resume for their next job rather than the long term legacy of the NSWE era to Aston Villa FC.

Edited Monday at 20:54 by Captain_Townsend

[Kingman]

2 hours ago, CVByrne said:

He's one of the best appointments this club has made. If he can get us to 400m in revenue in 3 years he's a complete and utter hero. 

Are we on track for £133m a season? 

Edited Monday at 21:39 by Kingman

[villa4europe]

1 hour ago, Tomaszk said:

Funnily enough. I knew you'd think this.

To be fair though he's right isn't he, Hecks job is to increase revenue 

It's not to give us all a fuzzy feeling in our tummies 

Villa are a business, we are customers, when the money we are willing to spend on them plateaus they will go out and find new customers who will spend more 

We all want football to be something it's simply not anymore