Chris Heck - President of Business Operations

[Villan82]

Heck would have more leeway on this issue identified by Drummond if he hadn't blown so much goodwill on other things last year that won't make us a single penny.

Edit, he could do a good job without having to try his best to extinguish all the joy.

[Duncan Shaw]

Great to see our club mentioned on BBC Breakfast this morning concerning the way our Europe adventure is going sour because of ticket prices.

PR disaster and Heck is risking destroying the feel good factor around the club . There was absolutely no need to set pricing so high and well above prices at clubs who have actually been successful and won trophies regularly for years

He will point to it selling out and not give a f*ck.

[Villan82]

The price rises, the GA+ thing were happening under Purslow, before he arrived, he's come in and expanded it. The owners must be aware.

Before Heck though it was clear that going forward new GA+ would be put into new structures fit for purpose. Since Heck it has been put into the old cramped structures and people have been displaced.

[danno]

So if Heck is just doing his job, why aren’t we directing our anger at the owners? The buck for this pile of shit has to stop somewhere.

Because many fans view them as Good Samaritans who saved the club, rather than savvy businessmen who bought a distressed asset, knowing that if they got it promoted it could double in value.

[VillaTim]

Great to see our club mentioned on BBC Breakfast this morning concerning the way our Europe adventure is going sour because of ticket prices.

PR disaster and Heck is risking destroying the feel good factor around the club . There was absolutely no need to set pricing so high and well above prices at clubs who have actually been successful and won trophies regularly for years

He will point to it selling out and not give a f*ck.

and therein lieth the issue

[Ads]

They did save the club and they're responsible for one of the best moments in all the Internet on a thread on Small Heath Alliance. From celebrating our impending financial doom to realisation that the Vile have been bought by the richest non-State owners in football.

They've then delivered on an incredible promise and here we are in the Champions League, watching the best football we've seen in decades. It's all been pretty good. I'm a bit loathe to moan about them for having scope to sell this asset that they own, have poured hundreds of millions into, for a profit at some point down the line.

I will moan about queues though. I will wince when paying large sums of money over for football and will be a bit disappointed that we are in the milieu of other top English clubs and their finance generating ways.

[Chico Hamilton III]

So if Heck is just doing his job, why aren’t we directing our anger at the owners? The buck for this pile of shit has to stop somewhere.

Because many fans view them as Good Samaritans who saved the club, rather than savvy businessmen who bought a distressed asset, knowing that if they got it promoted it could double in value.

Exactly. And Heck is their useful idiot, a convenient lightening rod for all the criticism

[Drummond]

Great to see our club mentioned on BBC Breakfast this morning concerning the way our Europe adventure is going sour because of ticket prices.

PR disaster and Heck is risking destroying the feel good factor around the club . There was absolutely no need to set pricing so high and well above prices at clubs who have actually been successful and won trophies regularly for years

I think someone worked out this pricing would secure an additional £4m turnover, it's peanuts in the grand scheme of things, but at the same time, it's £4m we don't already have. It's wages for a decent player for a year.

That we're talking about all this, instead of talking about the football, is particularly annoying, hence the feelgood factor stuff, but an International break creates a vacuum too.

[LeeB]

£4m a year is probably Dendonker's wage, for context.

[Drummond]

Ultimately, if the beer flowed, and the piss didn't, we'd all be much happier.

[Drummond]

£4m a year is probably Dendonker's wage, for context.

Buendia, Konsa or Ramsey if you believe this list. https://www.spotrac.com/epl/aston-villa-fc/cap/_/year/2024

[Rudy Can't Fail]

I think we have to realise that the cosy bubble our club has been in for so long is no more.

We want to play with the big boys, we have to take a hit. Our ticket prices have been cheap, relatively speaking, compared with other big clubs. Our levels of success mirror that. We've had none.

Things are changing, we're competing, yet we were still, only a couple of months ago, on the brink PSR wise.

The club needs more revenue, and the easiest and quickest way to get more is to do what they've done, and that's hit the most loyal.

Emery is more than doing his part, and ahead of schedule, Heck's job is to facilitate Emery being able to do his, he's not creating vast swathes of profit, he's creating funds to stop us losing more money and trying to keep us competitive.

Heck has gone for the lowest hanging fruit (sorry Chico) and obviously doesn't give a shit about alienating loyal fans. As President of Business Operations I do wonder what alternatives he tried to explore to raise funds. Other clubs have a separate sponsor for their training gear, advertising at the training ground, stadium naming rights, individual stadium stand sponsorship, there are alternatives other than scamming the fans.

For me, Heck could have increased prices but in line with other clubs rather than go out to be the most expensive. He talks about the "great success" of GA+ but as we can see, from the desperate emails to the empty seats, it's been everything except a "great success". Heck is suffering from a classic case of the Dunning-Kruger effect, he's believing his own press releases and tweets which leads to over confidence and arrogance. He may think he's a genius but he's easily replaceable.

The owners need to either reign him in or start looking for his replacement.

[LeeB]

£4m a year is probably Dendonker's wage, for context.

Buendia, Konsa or Ramsey if you believe this list. https://www.spotrac.com/epl/aston-villa-fc/cap/_/year/2024

Yes, but they're all of use to us unlike Dendonker.

And if you change the year to 2023, you will see that I was wrong anyway, he actually earns (lol) £4.8m a year.

[john e]

So if Heck is just doing his job, why aren’t we directing our anger at the owners? The buck for this pile of shit has to stop somewhere.

i love the owners and they were our saviors and thats no exegeration,
i live in hope that they dont like the fan base being pissed off as much as this and care about the club unlike Heck,

they wont get everything right, they also appointed Gerrard but when it didnt work out he was ruthlessly potted so well just have to see how it plays out but i'm still giving them the benefit of the doubt at the moment, maybe naively but thats where i am

[Drummond]

I think we have to realise that the cosy bubble our club has been in for so long is no more.

We want to play with the big boys, we have to take a hit. Our ticket prices have been cheap, relatively speaking, compared with other big clubs. Our levels of success mirror that. We've had none.

Things are changing, we're competing, yet we were still, only a couple of months ago, on the brink PSR wise.

The club needs more revenue, and the easiest and quickest way to get more is to do what they've done, and that's hit the most loyal.

Emery is more than doing his part, and ahead of schedule, Heck's job is to facilitate Emery being able to do his, he's not creating vast swathes of profit, he's creating funds to stop us losing more money and trying to keep us competitive.

Heck has gone for the lowest hanging fruit (sorry Chico) and obviously doesn't give a shit about alienating loyal fans. As President of Business Operations I do wonder what alternatives he tried to explore to raise funds. Other clubs have a separate sponsor for their training gear, advertising at the training ground, stadium naming rights, individual stadium stand sponsorship, there are alternatives other than scamming the fans.

For me, Heck could have increased prices but in line with other clubs rather than go out to be the most expensive. He talks about the "great success" of GA+ but as we can see, from the desperate emails to the empty seats, it's been everything except a "great success". Heck is suffering from a classic case of the Dunning-Kruger effect, he's believing his own press releases and tweets which leads to over confidence and arrogance. He may think he's a genius but he's easily replaceable.

The owners need to either reign him in or start looking for his replacement.

Agree re sponsorship of that stuff, I suspect we had nobody willing to pay (at least not at the rate we'd find acceptable.

I've no idea if he believes what he's saying, but he's doing it anyway. That statement after selling out yesterday was a prime case in point.

It wouldn't surprise me in the least if they already know his replacement, be that in 6 months or 6 years.


Anyway, these are the prices for the NFL London (regular season) games. I know there are less of them, but the general point about pricing worries me, because this could be where he's heading...

Category   Single game price
Category 1   £195   
Category 2   £180   
Category 3   £155   
Category 4   £135   
Category 5   £115   
Category 6   £88   
Category 7   £68   
Hospitality Packages   From £335
Category 5 (Under 16s)   £57.50
Category 7 (Under 16s)   £34
Sportsbreaks Hotel + Ticket package   From £269


And these are the premium packages.
https://www.nfl.com/ukire/premium