Chris Heck - President of Business Operations

[Dogtanian]

No mention of the American owner that got us into the shit in the first place.

Sharing gate receipts and shirt sale revenue across the league? 

[pablo_picasso]

“Our fans are like, ‘We like tradition,’” Edens said. “And I tell them: ‘No, you don’t. You think you do, but you don’t."

What an arrogant c**t.

[dave.woodhall]

What we don't like is becoming increasingly irrelevant.  Our fan demographic has changed dramatically in the last give years and a lot of them want the Lower Grounds-type 'experience'.

[john2710]

I've never really been interested in drinking alcohol before, during or after a game. Other than a ticket the only thing I'd buy is a programme, which I never even open. If the club is looking to get extra revenue from me they'll be disappointed.

My 29 year old Son, on the other hand likes to have several drinks at the game & probably afterwards if it was available. For him it's all part of the day. The club need to cater for both, but over time I'll be in the minority. The club will be actively trying to entice people who are prepared to pay more.

[aldridgeboy]

I usually go on my own to the home games, so never really drink. The last home game last season, I went in teh Hole Suite as I was going straight out into town afterwards, so had got a cab.I just couldn't get served there . Offered a bar man £5 just to serve me, he said he'd been already given tips much bigger son id just have to wait. After about 20 mins I just gave up.

Last week I paid £55 for the Lower Grounds( Is it usually that price ?)
I absolutely loved it. Managed about 8 pints before/after the game, had a nice burger and chips and a huge bag of sweets. Service was instant. I thought it was worth every penny and will definitely do it again if I have a drink. I'm hardy a new fangled fan, Ive been going since 82. But I totally get the concept
The flip side is,  I cant now go and just meet a friend if I'm not having a drink (well, I can, but at £55, Im just not going to). So I understand why a lot won't like the change as well
I wonder what the turnover is now in comparison to the £100k Heck quoted last year?

EDIT- Ive just seen its £80 usually, which makes a big difference actually 

[Mister E]

I've never really been interested in drinking alcohol before, during or after a game. Other than a ticket the only thing I'd buy is a programme, which I never even open. If the club is looking to get extra revenue from me they'll be disappointed.

My 29 year old Son, on the other hand likes to have several drinks at the game & probably afterwards if it was available. For him it's all part of the day. The club need to cater for both, but over time I'll be in the minority. The club will be actively trying to entice people who are prepared to pay more.

I think you just summed it up perfectly, John. Us old-style game will not contribute enough to satisfy the financial expectations.

[Dante Lavelli]

Have they given any indication how the slimmed down Villa Live will work?  I would prefer to just buy what i want rather than feel the need to sink X pints to make sure i get my monies worth.

[Percy McCarthy]

Never mind the Big 6, it's free-loading, sandwich-eating c***suckers like me that he's coming for.

https://archive.ph/TKzno


At Villa Park one afternoon, I went with Edens to visit the Lower Grounds, the all-you-can-eat dining area. Chris Heck, the club’s chief executive who formerly worked for the N.B.A.’s 76ers, suggested the idea for it shortly after he arrived in Birmingham last August. Touring the stadium, he stumbled on a decrepit ballroom-size space where ticket holders were permitted to gather. During the first game that the new venture was open for business, Heck says someone approached him on the concourse and took a swing at him — “because I took away the free space where he used to come and eat his sandwich.

After hearing how unpopular it was among supporters, I expected a dreary scene of a few people sitting at otherwise empty tables. Instead, the area was filled to capacity with some 800 fans. They were eating and drinking while a game played on several large screens. They certainly appeared to be enjoying themselves. According to Heck, the club would make 80,000 British pounds, or about $100,000, that afternoon. “We fill it up every game, so multiply that by 23,” he says.

Some of that money would doubtless end up being spent on making Aston Villa better: on players; or on importing more of the plyometric machines like the ones that Edens’s Bucks use in Milwaukee into Villa’s training facility; or on the scouting budget, perhaps. Lower Grounds would help defray the cost of trying to compete against some of the wealthiest owners and entities in the world. It would also, in some incremental way, make the business more valuable.

Those were ancillary benefits, but Edens insisted to me that they weren’t quite the point. He was convinced that the all-you-can-eat venue would improve the experience of attending a match, just as he felt confident that relieving the burden of the skiers trying to haul their kids’ stuff across the parking lot would be welcomed by club members at his Jackson Hole hotel. “Our fans are like, ‘We like tradition,’” Edens said. “And I tell them: ‘No, you don’t. You think you do, but you don’t.’ I mean, who doesn’t like a big-screen TV with plenty of food and beer?” Then he spread his arms wide and answered his own question: “Nobody.”

Is it really that popular? I’d expect to see a bit more evidence on socmed if so.

[adrenachrome]

What we don't like is becoming increasingly irrelevant.  Our fan demographic has changed dramatically in the last give years and a lot of them want the Lower Grounds-type 'experience'.

This is undoubtedly true.
It's been a long time coming, but now it is here. The time for opposing these initiatives has passed.

[aldridgeboy]

Just saw this from the Man U owner
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C4sg-QeMK1M/?igsh=bnN6NTEyMWhsbGxk

[tomd2103]

Just saw this from the Man U owner
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C4sg-QeMK1M/?igsh=bnN6NTEyMWhsbGxk

And there it is. 

[ChicagoLion]

“Our fans are like, ‘We like tradition,’” Edens said. “And I tell them: ‘No, you don’t. You think you do, but you don’t."

What an arrogant c**t.

This bloke doesn’t get it and won’t ever get it.

[Olneythelonely]

Just saw this from the Man U owner
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C4sg-QeMK1M/?igsh=bnN6NTEyMWhsbGxk

“£2 on a burger at half time.”

What world do these arseholes live in?

[dalians umbrella]

“Our fans are like, ‘We like tradition,’” Edens said. “And I tell them: ‘No, you don’t. You think you do, but you don’t."

What an arrogant c**t.

This bloke doesn’t get it and won’t ever get it.

I'm not disagreeing with the sentiment, but does everyone realise it was Wes Edens saying this and not Heck?

[PeterWithe]

Just saw this from the Man U owner
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C4sg-QeMK1M/?igsh=bnN6NTEyMWhsbGxk

Nothing much of note there.