Chris Heck - President of Business Operations

[chrisw1]

There must be a profit share element?

[AV82EC]

It depends on how the deal is constructed, Catering contracts are notoriously complicated and tbh I’ve been dealing with them for 25 years in my job and there are still things that confuse and surprise me that outsourced caterers bring to the table. Anyway it goes without saying that Compass are not doing anything like a good enough job.

[tomd2103]

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2012/08/03/People-and-Pop-Culture/Red-Bulls.aspx

That does not read well to be honest.

[pablo_picasso]

I don't think he quite grasps 'football' & the tribal nature of it...

[Mister E]

It's about revenue - he's looking a quick fixes to raise more cash.

To play devil's advocate - is there another big premier league team with a facility like the Holte Suite that is free to season ticket holders? He's probably looked at that and thought why aren't we charging entry for that?

Rumours of the new "Warehouse" being £20-£30 a match would add to this.

It's the same at most PL clubs and is why they all earn so much more money that we do an a match day.

Looks to me like they’re trying to find ways to maximise income to partially compensate for the lost revenue whilst the North Stand is redeveloped.

I think LV has this about right. The club's poor exploitation of commercial opportunities is one reason we're not competing. Like it or not, they'll be leveraging loyalty from now on, which will mean some of us will probably 'drop out' and let others bear the financial burden of fandom.
I think I'll be one of the drop-outs soon (after this season).

[pauliewalnuts]

I bet plenty of people pony up the money for the Lower grounds and Terrace View tomorrow though.

I also reckon that in the last ten years almost every one of us on here has been triggered by something and said “that’s it for me now” - multiple times - and still kept coming.

They know this. They’re money driven ruthless operators who would charge you to drive past the ground, let alone come in it if they could.

If you complain they’ll point at two things. One will be that revenue per supporter graph someone posted the other day which had us in the relegation places and the other will be the season ticket waiting list.

Also, lest we forget, from end of this season we will have two years when 7,000 less of us will be able to come to the match, so there aren’t going to be any horrifying attendance figures as a result of what they do for a bit, by which time we will all have forgotten and flock back, excited to use a new stand which even has functional toilets.

[Ads]

If they'd Terraced Viewed the entire Upper Holte to standardise it first, we'd have been all impressed and distracted by any Lower Grounds or Holte Pub going Corporate.

[UK Redsox]

I thought that Terrace View and The Lower Grounds weren't Corporate....just bloody expensive

[Billy Walker]

*If* Heck is the guy leading the ditching of Castore and *if* he manages to blag us a bigger deal with the likes of Nike or Adidas, it'll be a job well done.

[Ads]

We've briefed the shit out of them, so I'd assume it is.

[Nii Lamptey]

Next summer is make or break for Heck imo. So far - Absolutely not impressed. He's alienated a lot of the fanbase, prioritised vanity projects instead of getting the foundations right (*baltie pies, beer and pissers).

By next August, we should be seeing the skeleton of the new North Stand going in, a new kit deal with one of the TOP known sports brands and the current shirt sponsor potted (no more of this second rate bollocks). And as importantly, all Villa Park concourse catering given a full overhaul, where 'edible' food is served and you don't have to miss HT PLUS 20 minutes of the game to get served.

[dorsetvillian]

Now that I've moved to West Wales and don't have the weekly trips home and away with the Bournemouth Lions, these off field developments over the past few months have really made me consider if this might be my last season following Villa. It does seem that the club are taking liberties knowing the reduced capacity is in its way. However the crowd in Thursday clearly showed that we can't be taken for granted. Hopefully Heck and the club have learnt a lesson, but I'm not holding my breath.

[Martyn Smith]

I'm just going purely on VFM. I'll be there Thu because £30 for a front and centre UH ticket, yeah OK you can chug a £5 out of me on top of that, is ok VFM

[john e]

He looks like Keith Wyness to me, I think it is Keith Wyness

Like a banned poster returns to H&V under another name we’ve got the returning CEO

[tomd2103]

Next summer is make or break for Heck imo. So far - Absolutely not impressed. He's alienated a lot of the fanbase, prioritised vanity projects instead of getting the foundations right (*baltie pies, beer and pissers).

By next August, we should be seeing the skeleton of the new North Stand going in, a new kit deal with one of the TOP known sports brands and the current shirt sponsor potted (no more of this second rate bollocks). And as importantly, all Villa Park concourse catering given a full overhaul, where 'edible' food is served and you don't have to miss HT PLUS 20 minutes of the game to get served.

What I find annoying is that we haven't heard a peep from him since he started, not even in the local media.  A lot of what has happened such as the badge situation, abandoning Villa Live, the changes to the Holte etc. have been accompanied with a wall of silence, which is going to rile fans up. 

I just hope that he understands that Birmingham is not London and Manchester, and Villa are not Chelsea or Manchester United.