Chris Heck - President of Business Operations

[VillaTim]

Up to the fans to make his position untenable . He's done plenty of damage to goodwill this week and also the brand. That won't be going unnoticed

[Sexual Ealing]

Winter was let go from his press gig wasn't he? Looks like that article is just on his own website.

Yes, made redundant from the Times. Probably making three times as much from his Substack*.



*If any of you are wealthy, vain, lazy and think you have opinions worth communicating even when you don't, I offer a full Substack service at very competitive rates.**


**I'm not currently competing with anyone so you'll need to have a wedge.

[john e]

For those saying we will sell out anyway, and there’s always a queue of people waiting to take your seat

Remember we didn’t sell out against Arsenal
Yes we sold out normal tickets, but not all the ones that Chris Hecks trying to sell to the more wealthy corporate/hospitality fans

It won’t work we haven’t got that type of fan base and we never will have

[Villan82]

It won’t work we haven’t got that type of fan base and we never will have

I agree. That's why the club needs more GA seats and any new GA + offerings in a new stand. Instead he has reduced GA seats and created GA+ seats in structures they aren't suited to.

Honestly cannot believe this man blagged his way into such an impactful role at Villa

[Clampy]

This is a Champions League game though and against a team we havent played in 40 odd years. It's different than playing Arsenal which we do twice a year.

[Somniloquism]

Winter was let go from his press gig wasn't he? Looks like that article is just on his own website.

Yes, made redundant from the Times. Probably making three times as much from his Substack*.

I'm surprised he hasn't done a Nixon and used Patreon. Seems that lots of sports journalists are doing the equivalent of Twitch streaming rather then working at papers now.

[Brend'Watkins]

For those saying we will sell out anyway, and there’s always a queue of people waiting to take your seat

Remember we didn’t sell out against Arsenal
Yes we sold out normal tickets, but not all the ones that Chris Hecks trying to sell to the more wealthy corporate/hospitality fans

It won’t work we haven’t got that type of fan base and we never will have

Not now yes, 10 years of success like Man City we’d have plenty.

[chrisw1]

It won't happen. This will stick, they will sell tickets galore and we have to like it or lump it unfortunately.

There are plenty of non-Villa diehard fans who will buy the tickets if we don't.

I think that's right and the season ticket holder window doesn't seem v long for Bayern.

I think they made the choice not to expand the stadium and after that point were going to milk 40k for whatever they could get and Heck is focussed on his targets.

So I think regular supporters being disgruntled isn't going to bother them too much.

Although if we have a poor start the Bolgna and Celtic attendances couyld be challenging.

Correct.  An extra 10k of standard seating adds very little.  It would have allowed more hospitality without impacting too much on the everyday fan, but they've decided fuck that - we'll increase the hospitality anyway and just squeeze the standard seating numbers. Fuck those £40 per match paying fuckers, don't need them.

[Risso]

I think everybody grudgingly accepts that prices needed to rise. What he's done, is go way, way beyond what people think is reasonable and it's not sustainable. He doubled most of the hospitality prices so lots of people told them to shove it, and now there's loads left unsold. He's then tried to fleece everybody on Champions League prices, and has unleashed a barrage of really bad publicity. Meanwhile, the conditions for the average fan remain absolutely dire. That's not a good way to build a higher income that's going to stay high for years.

[Drummond]

I think everybody grudgingly accepts that prices needed to rise. What he's done, is go way, way beyond what people think is reasonable and it's not sustainable. He doubled most of the hospitality prices so lots of people told them to shove it, and now there's loads left unsold. He's then tried to fleece everybody on Champions League prices, and has unleashed a barrage of really bad publicity. Meanwhile, the conditions for the average fan remain absolutely dire. That's not a good way to build a higher income that's going to stay high for years.

It definitely feels like a bit of a gamble. However, with the way the team is playing, longer-term success feels achievable, and that in itself will drive it.

As a club we're trying to play with the big boys, and price rises, increases in corporate numbers is inevitable. The issue is that he's aiming really high with prices without fixing the easy stuff first.

The improvement on the pitch has been far more rapid than expected (I mean nobody thought we'd get Champions League yet) which means we're being hit with these prices earlier than we'd have thought.

[VillaTim]

But the pricing is way OTT , compare it to C115y and Liverpoool . Heck's prices are a joke

[Risso]

I think everybody grudgingly accepts that prices needed to rise. What he's done, is go way, way beyond what people think is reasonable and it's not sustainable. He doubled most of the hospitality prices so lots of people told them to shove it, and now there's loads left unsold. He's then tried to fleece everybody on Champions League prices, and has unleashed a barrage of really bad publicity. Meanwhile, the conditions for the average fan remain absolutely dire. That's not a good way to build a higher income that's going to stay high for years.

It definitely feels like a bit of a gamble. However, with the way the team is playing, longer-term success feels achievable, and that in itself will drive it.

As a club we're trying to play with the big boys, and price rises, increases in corporate numbers is inevitable. The issue is that he's aiming really high with prices without fixing the easy stuff first.

The improvement on the pitch has been far more rapid than expected (I mean nobody thought we'd get Champions League yet) which means we're being hit with these prices earlier than we'd have thought.

My point was though, that the price rises aren't sustainable. They've caused lots of hospitality clients to not renew, and now he's created a massive backlash aganst the club when things should be extremely positive. We're now charging more than lots of clubs who are way more successful than we are, and don't have to put up with the shit that we do in terms of access and poor facilities etc. That really isn't a way to build a sustainable business. People will grudgingly pay it for a couple of games like Bayern, but almost certainly won't if we're back playing some crappy Lithuanian team next season.

[Drummond]

The games will sell out. The club are banking on supply and demand model.

Those other clubs have sustained success, they have won the competition, they qualify every season, so fans have been there and seen it. I suspect in future years we won't charge that.

[kippaxvilla2]

It won't happen. This will stick, they will sell tickets galore and we have to like it or lump it unfortunately.

There are plenty of non-Villa diehard fans who will buy the tickets if we don't.

A yes and no, they will sell plenty of tickets for the time being. But at some point there will be a tipping point.

As regards non villa die hards, I asked in the office if anyone fancied a CL ticket if we didn't sell out, and was met with " just watch it on the telly for nothing" type of reply.... we are not yet a football tourist destination, maybe one day.

Of course there will be a tipping point. But the gamble I am sure will be that it will come when other revenues are able to dwarf ticket sales. If this strategy makes them £3-5M this season on CL tickets, that's over 1% of revenue. It would be less than 0.5% for all of the other top 6 sides.

That tipping point will be when we are in the drop zone 3.

[Zouch Villa]

According to my ticket, I’m going to see Villa vs Bayern on Sunday 29th.  Assume this is just the dress rehearsal,