Chris Heck - President of Business Operations

[VillaTim]

I'd say they are on a fast trajectory to build the "asset" and flip it . There are already others involved now in ownership . These guys aren't fans as much as we love what they've done to bring us on since Xia , once they are gone they will quickly forget the name Aston Villa.

I disagree. Does an investor who is looking to flip an asset come to watch the youth team play midweek in a fourth-rate competition in Wycombe?  I don’t think so.

That is a fair point. Then again R Lerner did this sort of stuff too until he got bored. Hopefully Sawaris is different .

[dalians umbrella]

I think us committing to Villa Park is a very today and short term decision. Heck has said what he’s been directed to say about how great our home is and he’s right. But I cannot believe the long term plan to grow commercial revenues doesn’t include significant investment in the overall area or a new stadium entirely. Clubs around us and even the likes of Everton all have bigger stadiums. We won’t be left behind.

I don't really give a shit what he says about the ground or however many times he says 'Up The Villa' in an attempt to sound like he 'gets' us,

He admitted on that interview he did in America that after bad feedback about his first catchphrase, “on brand”,  he replaced it with “up the villa”. The fact that he thinks these two phrases are synonymous, tells you everything that you need to know.

[Villan82]

My worry isn't that Heck doesn't know what he's doing, but rather that he knows exactly what he's doing and it's what NSWE want.

It's like looking at jigsaw pieces. I can see NSWE, I can see the arrival of Atairos/ Comcast and I can see the things Heck has announced. Something isn't adding up because I can't see the final piece.

I have thought it's a ruthless executive trying to hit his targets quickly. I have wondered if it is  a preparation for a sale of the club in about 2 years. The bit I can't reconcile with either is the Comcast angle.

[Des Little]

Do people think that if we move into a new, bigger stadium tickets would get cheaper? Because they won’t. They’d only get cheaper if we got shit again, God forbid, so be careful what you wish for!

[andyh]

The owners and the people they employ to run it don't care about the fans, they are running this as an investment opportunity and anything getting in the way is collateral damage . Hard to digest but those are the facts .

That is utter, utter bollocks.
If our owners were not 100% committed to seeing the club succeed, win things and being the best it can be, then why was Sawaris at Wycombe on Tuesday night?
I’m sure there were a million places  where our billionaire owner could have been, but he chose to watch the stiffs at Wycombe.

[VillaTim]

The owners and the people they employ to run it don't care about the fans, they are running this as an investment opportunity and anything getting in the way is collateral damage . Hard to digest but those are the facts .

That is utter, utter bollocks.
If our owners were not 100% committed to seeing the club succeed, win things and being the best it can be, then why was Sawaris at Wycombe on Tuesday night?
I’m sure there were a million places  where our billionaire owner could have been, but he chose to watch the stiffs at Wycombe.

So he must be fully aware of the discontent around ticket prices etc etc .

[TonyD]

The owners and the people they employ to run it don't care about the fans, they are running this as an investment opportunity and anything getting in the way is collateral damage . Hard to digest but those are the facts .

That is utter, utter bollocks.
If our owners were not 100% committed to seeing the club succeed, win things and being the best it can be, then why was Sawaris at Wycombe on Tuesday night?
I’m sure there were a million places  where our billionaire owner could have been, but he chose to watch the stiffs at Wycombe.

I suspect the truth lies somewhere in between.

[ROBBO]

I would be interested to see how prices have risen in relation to income. Australian rules is huge and every game televised but players in the game get a pittance compared to even players in the lower divisions. It's all got to the financially obscene level for me.

[Dante Lavelli]

Do people think that if we move into a new, bigger stadium tickets would get cheaper? Because they won’t. They’d only get cheaper if we got shit again, God forbid, so be careful what you wish for!

I know I do.  My hope is that with an extra 15,000 seats all price thresholds can be catered for and the spaces fit for purpose.   I think a lot of what heck is doing is testing the elasticity of demand for different price points and offerings so any new development/stadium will be tailored to suit.

[Brend'Watkins]

Do people think that if we move into a new, bigger stadium tickets would get cheaper? Because they won’t. They’d only get cheaper if we got shit again, God forbid, so be careful what you wish for!

I know a do.  My hope is that with an extra 15,000 seats all price thresholds can be catered for and the spaces fit for purpose.   I think a lot of what heck is doing is testing the elasticity of demand for different price points and offerings so any new development/stadium will be tailored to suit.

You’re giving Heck too much credit. He’s purely out to make his bonus in the quickest possible time and then will be gone.

[Villan82]

Do people think that if we move into a new, bigger stadium tickets would get cheaper? Because they won’t. They’d only get cheaper if we got shit again, God forbid, so be careful what you wish for!

I know a do.  My hope is that with an extra 15,000 seats all price thresholds can be catered for and the spaces fit for purpose.   I think a lot of what heck is doing is testing the elasticity of demand for different price points and offerings so any new development/stadium will be tailored to suit.

Presumably that sort of modeling was done when the new stand was designed? It seemed to be based on the idea we can sell out 42,000 and above easily but need to continue and improve on the existing GA+ etc offered in the Trinity. If that's what they are doing now they are really wasting years on this

[The Edge]

A mate of mine who can't make the games on a regular basis  tried for tickets for the Bayern game. The only one on offer was in The Cells and it's 160 quid. He was OK with that but was informed that he couldn't just buy that one he had to buy a premium package which included Man United, Man City and Liverpool. The four tickets were 640 quid and there's no option to buy singles. He declined and I don't blame him it's outrageous in my opinion.

[Pat Mustard]

My worry isn't that Heck doesn't know what he's doing, but rather that he knows exactly what he's doing and it's what NSWE want.

I agree.

They have all the social, economic, demographic and financial data. Heck has form in implementing

My worry isn't that Heck doesn't know what he's doing, but rather that he knows exactly what he's doing and it's what NSWE want.

There is little doubt in my mind that you are right.

This is where I struggle to believe he does know what he’s doing. If they were interpreting the data correctly he must surely realise the pricing structure is wrong - there are not enough people who want to watch Villa who can afford the current prices.

People keep saying we want to attract day trippers ahead of regular match goers as they spend more money. If that were true and they looked to limit STs to, say, 25k then that’s 15k seats we have to sell for every game, effectively 400k tickets to sell to day-trippers. With the best will in the world, we are never going to sell 400k tickets to individual purchasers - we need a good chunk of people who go week after week. The reality is that with prices as they are, those people that would go to multiple games can’t afford it.

I’m going back to something I’ve repeated multiple times - for the last 5 years we as family of 3 have gone to almost all matches. This year we will probably go to no more than half all together. Where are our replacements, when we haven’t managed to sell out a single game so far this season, including Wednesday which is our biggest home game in 50 years.

He’s screwing up the long-term in pursuit of a short-term objective, but in doing so he is screwing up the short-term as well. We are not making anything like the increase in income he is expecting with thousands of seats that were previously full now empty, and there will be games later in the season where the deficit in atmosphere could well end up costing us on the pitch. Last season we finished 4th by 2 points - one more draw or defeat and we would have lost £50 million.

[john e]

My worry isn't that Heck doesn't know what he's doing, but rather that he knows exactly what he's doing and it's what NSWE want.

I agree.

They have all the social, economic, demographic and financial data. Heck has form in implementing

My worry isn't that Heck doesn't know what he's doing, but rather that he knows exactly what he's doing and it's what NSWE want.

There is little doubt in my mind that you are right.

This is where I struggle to believe he does know what he’s doing. If they were interpreting the data correctly he must surely realise the pricing structure is wrong - there are not enough people who want to watch Villa who can afford the current prices.

People keep saying we want to attract day trippers ahead of regular match goers as they spend more money. If that were true and they looked to limit STs to, say, 25k then that’s 15k seats we have to sell for every game, effectively 400k tickets to sell to day-trippers. With the best will in the world, we are never going to sell 400k tickets to individual purchasers - we need a good chunk of people who go week after week. The reality is that with prices as they are, those people that would go to multiple games can’t afford it.

I’m going back to something I’ve repeated multiple times - for the last 5 years we as family of 3 have gone to almost all matches. This year we will probably go to no more than half all together. Where are our replacements, when we haven’t managed to sell out a single game so far this season, including Wednesday which is our biggest home game in 50 years.

He’s screwing up the long-term in pursuit of a short-term objective, but in doing so he is screwing up the short-term as well. We are not making anything like the increase in income he is expecting with thousands of seats that were previously full now empty, and there will be games later in the season where the deficit in atmosphere could well end up costing us on the pitch. Last season we finished 4th by 2 points - one more draw or defeat and we would have lost £50 million.

I agree with Pat

[john2710]

The Wolves game last week there were no GA tickets available on Thursday. It was sold out. There were GA+ tickets available. On Friday before the game resale tickets were made available, mostly single seats. Many were left available but that's not lost revenue it's just season ticket holders who didn't attend.

GA+ is where there's clearly blocks of seats that aren't selling, I don't know what the ratio of sales is needed to make it profitable but I would hazard a guess that over the season the club will make substantially more money than if they were left as GA & especially so as season tickets.

The club are clearly trying to understand the appetite for GA+ & will be learning as they go. The level of change has been rapid & it's possible they've gone too far too soon. You can do all the profiling you like but It will still only give a indication. The thought of paying £1k+ for a game is as alien to me as paying £97 is for others. They may scale it back but I think that's highly unlikely & even less likely that they'd admit it.

Anyone saying we can't sell out the Bayern game need to look at the price of the 50 or so tickets left ranging from £340-£1080.