Chris Heck - President of Business Operations

[allani]

22 minutes ago, Captain_Townsend said:

There is a tendency in the villa universe for some individuals to enjoy the opportunity to feel superior to others.

Heck cancelled the biggest and most needed improvement  to Villa Park in a generation and has taken decision that makes genuine improvement unlikely for probably 3-4 years into the future at precisely a moment when demand is high.

To see us now tart up things and spin this as a massive improvement is quite something.

Which player(s) do you propose selling and not replacing to cover the revenue lost by closing the North Stand through the season?  Bearing in mind that we have PSR commitments that have to be hit now and any reduction in revenue will impact on that.  Or are you suggesting that all remaining tickets should be temporarily subject to a price increase to cover the fact that there would be fewer tickets available to be sold and fewer fans in the stadium to purchase drinks, food, etc?  

[Tomaszk]

13 minutes ago, allani said:

Which player(s) do you propose selling and not replacing to cover the revenue lost by closing the North Stand through the season?  Bearing in mind that we have PSR commitments that have to be hit now and any reduction in revenue will impact on that.  Or are you suggesting that all remaining tickets should be temporarily subject to a price increase to cover the fact that there would be fewer tickets available to be sold and fewer fans in the stadium to purchase drinks, food, etc?  

Robin Olsen please.

Bearing in mind missing revenue from the North Stand would account for maximum 2% of our overall revenue.

Or we could just stuck another £1m each into the PSR dodge deals? Whichever you prefer.

I reckon Heck has covered it already in his hike elsewhere and introduction of executive thrones in every spare part of the ground.

[thabucks]

14 hours ago, Tomaszk said:

Tickets are of course <9% of our revenue. It's not where any big gains will be made.

The lower grounds brings in close to £2mill per season. It’s was just a hangout space for season ticket holders previously. Now add in the other new lounges & GA+ offerings then that’s millions more per season in revenue. We need to increase revenue in all areas of the club and squeeze every £££ we can - it’s not like he is doing this to benefit anyone but the club. 

[allani]

59 minutes ago, Tomaszk said:

Robin Olsen please.

Bearing in mind missing revenue from the North Stand would account for maximum 2% of our overall revenue.

Or we could just stuck another £1m each into the PSR dodge deals? Whichever you prefer.

I reckon Heck has covered it already in his hike elsewhere and introduction of executive thrones in every spare part of the ground.

But hang on I thought that @Captain_Townsend was saying that the biggest thing holding us back from challenging the Top 6 was Heck's decision to abandon plans to redevelop the North Stand.  The revenue is either a big thing or it isn't.  I mean if it's not going to bring in a decent chunk of the extra £50m revenue that Heck is targetting for this year then surely this completely justifies Heck's decision to focus on other ways of generating money quicker and without such a large capital outlay.

[Tomaszk]

38 minutes ago, thabucks said:

The lower grounds brings in close to £2mill per season. It’s was just a hangout space for season ticket holders previously. Now add in the other new lounges & GA+ offerings then that’s millions more per season in revenue. We need to increase revenue in all areas of the club and squeeze every £££ we can - it’s not like he is doing this to benefit anyone but the club. 

 

2 hours ago, Tomaszk said:

I have no problem with most of Heck's actions aside from:

1) Badge is a joke

2) Heavy ticket price increase - lying prior and saying it would be ~5%.

3) I find his general communication poor. Looking to be critical you could call it dishonest and underhand if you like.

No problem with additional things, making more money is good for sure.

He should have communicated the lower grounds being taken off season ticket holders. It was so unprofessional how he handled that.

It's clearly his MO. No announcements. No chance for arguments. Just swallow what you're served.

Tickets have gone up over 65% in five years. That's enough IMO. Hold regular tickets where they are for at least one more year now. If we qualify for Champions League three turns in a row, then you can look at lifting them again if you're absolutely gagging to.

Fans do not make London wages, which is what they seem to be basing prices off.

[nepal_villan]

2 hours ago, sharkyvilla said:

I worry a bit when people just outright lie about small things like the Crazy Train thing for no real reason.

I believe Crazy Train was played during warmups and it was only this season that it was used as the walkout song.  
 

But agree that there are plenty of other examples of Heck not being totally honest or transparent. 

[sharkyvilla]

1 hour ago, nepal_villan said:

I believe Crazy Train was played during warmups and it was only this season that it was used as the walkout song.  
 

But agree that there are plenty of other examples of Heck not being totally honest or transparent. 

Ok to be fair that's not as bad as I thought, I'll let him off for that.

[Caravella82]

"This is our 150th year. That’s really cool. We play in a stadium that was built in 1897. Think about that a little bit. It comes with a lot of charm, but headaches as well."

I really would prefer it if he stopped referring to the Stadium as over 120 years old. Can't he just say we have played at Villa Park since 1987.

The Stadium was not built then. Most of us can recall three quarters of it being built and a fair few can probably recall the other quarter.

[ender4]

10 hours ago, thabucks said:

The lower grounds brings in close to £2mill per season. 

I think this is another Heck lie. 

I think the truth is that it COULD bring in £2m IF it was fully sold out every game.  We know take-up was very poor last season, and we can see from the GA+ season ticket sales that take-up is poor this coming season. I’d be surprised if it makes much more than £500k currently.

[OutByEaster?]

At 25 home games a season, that puts the Lower Grounds at £80,000 per game - there are around 500 people in there, so that's £160 per person if it's always sold out. I think it'll be sold out more often than not this season, if anyone can confirm the prices, it should be fairly straightforward to see how far away £2m is as a figure.

 

[Zatman]

9 hours ago, ender4 said:

I think this is another Heck lie. 

I think the truth is that it COULD bring in £2m IF it was fully sold out every game.  We know take-up was very poor last season, and we can see from the GA+ season ticket sales that take-up is poor this coming season. I’d be surprised if it makes much more than £500k currently.

We had 28 home games last season not the usual 19

[blandy]

There are threads for both PSR and increasing revenue , please use them for those discussions and use this one for discussing Chris Heck and what he says and does. We know there’s something of an overlap, but posts purely about PSR or about Increasing revenue do have their own specific place. Thanks.

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

On 06/07/2024 at 14:40, Captain_Townsend said:

There is a tendency in the villa universe for some individuals to enjoy the opportunity to feel superior to others.

Heck cancelled the biggest and most needed improvement  to Villa Park in a generation and has taken decision that makes genuine improvement unlikely for probably 3-4 years into the future at precisely a moment when demand is high.

To see us now tart up things and spin this as a massive improvement is quite something.

Without trying to ignite the same circular argument.

I could easily by the same token say :

 " There is a tendency in the Villa Universe for some fans to feel superior to Established and Successful Billionaire Business Men which have taken our club from Administration to Champions League in the space of 5 seasons. 

As well as the belief that their knowledge of the intricacies, finances and commercial aspects/prospects of the club is superior to both the owners and the highly successful people they have put in place to oversee them "

Yeah anyone is capable of making mistakes, bad decisions and calls... BUT

I'm going to choose to place my bets on the former, over disgruntled and emotional fans on a forums though.

This has nothing to do with any sort of " superiority " fan complex, and all to do with a set of fans choosing to trust the owners, and professionals with demonstrable success in driving the club forward this far.

You speak about these things as if they are FACT and not opinion which makes it a bit more grating as well.

Because without you putting up your own factual projections and strategy ( Goes for all of us ), based on all the information the Board and club use to make decisions, it's nothing but noise.

Quote

" Heck cancelled the biggest and most needed improvement to Villa Park in a generation "

With all due respect, what makes you better placed to know this as facts and not the club? To constantly say it with such authority ?

On Heck, if he's as shite as people say, he'll eventually get sacked, and it won't be due to a dark theory that he is intent on destroying the fabric of the club for lols.

Sidenote: I try to stay out of things like ticket prices etc as an oversees fan, but from a common sense perspective I also understand these things.

Edited July 7 by JAMAICAN-VILLAN

[PaulMcGrath_5]

 

[rodders0223]

Up the (checks notes) Villa!

[CarryOnVilla]

He seems real proud of the Adidas deal.

Yet, is it all that impressive? The club was in a real good position in the league and deep in a euro competition, the club owner is a minority owner of Adidas really makes it seem a lot easier to get this sponsorship deal to happen. 

I’m impressed yet I don’t feel it’s overly special. 
 

also, I hope the club is getting extra for essentially having the north stand sponsored by them 

[LondonLax]

9 minutes ago, CarryOnVilla said:

He seems real proud of the Adidas deal.

Yet, is it all that impressive? The club was in a real good position in the league and deep in a euro competition, the club owner is a minority owner of Adidas really makes it seem a lot easier to get this sponsorship deal to happen. 

I’m impressed yet I don’t feel it’s overly special. 
 

also, I hope the club is getting extra for essentially having the north stand sponsored by them 

Promoting your major sponsors at every opportunity is a good way to make your sponsor feel like they are getting value for money. 

I imagine they will have chipped in for some of the renovations there as well. 

[Davkaus]

7 minutes ago, LondonLax said:

Promoting your major sponsors at every opportunity is a good way to make your sponsor feel like they are getting value for money. 

I imagine they will have chipped in for some of the renovations there as well. 

I think this is probably spot on.

It does upset me a little bit to remove our own initials to shove an advert there, though.

[sne]

6 minutes ago, Davkaus said:

I think this is probably spot on.

It does upset me a little bit to remove our own initials to shove an advert there, though.

At least we are not sponsored by Le Coq Sportif these days. Would be a bit awkward having a massive cock on there alternatively "Le Coq" written in huge letters.

[Robbie09]

Chris Heck has achieved something that Billy McNeill, Doug Ellis, Alex McLeish, Remi Garde etc all failed to do.

He’s made me feel disconnected from the club that I’ve supported for over 50 years by his approach and attitude towards STH’s and other non corporate fans. Genuinely can’t recall feeling this disassociated towards the club, having been moved from my seat without any explanantion.