Chris Heck - President of Business Operations

[Villan82]

If you're bored of Heck talk then it's probably an idea not to go into a thread about him.

I'm not bored of most odf the talk, I'm bored of people being so fucking desperate to turn him into some sort of panto villain.

Yeah, it's really the fans' fault isn't it?

Erm, this man has done nothing to endear himself to the customers, erm,  meant fans.

From day one he has gone about it in an obnoxious manner whether its our brand, our badge, our stadium's future, communications, engaging with the FAB, ticket prices, using his social media for good news stories.... it goes on and on. He's only been here a year!

This has been a PR shitshow. He is riding on Emery's coat tails, it's our on the pitch improvement that makes us more appealing to sponsors, this isn't rocket science. Why else have we had 25 years of Villa officials saying we need to get into the Champions League?

Heck has brought this on himself and he could learn a lot from Unai Emery

[RamboandBruno]

All the stuff about Heck doing his job, meeting his remit, probably meeting his targets and increasing revenue etc, may be accurate. Ultimately though its just noise. Its morally wrong to charge people 90+ quid to sit on the Holte End. Particularly when you think of the way many people in Birmingham as well as other places are struggling.


Not only that, its incredibly short sighted and based on the premise that the success under Emery will be sustained over a period. Heck and his team no doubt will be somewhere else doing the same thing when the time comes for Unai to leave. If things aren’t sustained he wont be here to be held account if a lot of us are priced out and the next generation of regular match goers arent there.

And another thing, im not an advocate of the holte end being a closed shop, but at the Europa games last year, there were a lot of one off attendees by me, often getting really angry and screaming at Martinez to hit it long, just saying.

[oldhill_avfc]

Heck has gone for the easy option, fleece the loyal fan base. What is he doing on the commercial side though? Birmingham based Cadbury are sponsoring ManU, why haven’t we now got a foot in the door there? Or, at any of the other numerous service providers to football clubs? I know we don’t have the pull of ManU globally but even so, increased revenue from Sponsorship should be the benchmark for Heck’s success or otherwise, not, how much he can squeeze from the loyal fan base.

I’m not sure I quite understand how Heck is fleecing the loyal fan base.

Have you been on Mars or something these last 2 years

Been on planet reality unlike some on here.

To run a compatible football club costs money.  About £400m a year so we hear.

I’m not surprised when I’m asked to pay more than a few years ago for my season ticket - but it still represents value for money to me.

Of course I’d prefer to pay less; the more commercial deals, hospitality etc the better for me.

[RamboandBruno]

Heck has gone for the easy option, fleece the loyal fan base. What is he doing on the commercial side though? Birmingham based Cadbury are sponsoring ManU, why haven’t we now got a foot in the door there? Or, at any of the other numerous service providers to football clubs? I know we don’t have the pull of ManU globally but even so, increased revenue from Sponsorship should be the benchmark for Heck’s success or otherwise, not, how much he can squeeze from the loyal fan base.

I’m not sure I quite understand how Heck is fleecing the loyal fan base.

Have you been on Mars or something these last 2 years

Been on planet reality unlike some on here.

To run a compatible football club costs money.  About £400m a year so we hear.

I’m not surprised when I’m asked to pay more than a few years ago for my season ticket - but it still represents value for money to me.

Of course I’d prefer to pay less; the more commercial deals, hospitality etc the better for me.

The point is and this has been made several times to you in this thread, there are now more/better commercial deals and there is more hospitality than ever before and your still paying more for your season ticket, go figure.

[oldhill_avfc]

I figure it costs more because to be competitive than ever before.

What’s your explanation?

[Clampy]

I figure it costs more because to be competitive than ever before.

What’s your explanation?

If you think £97 for a football match is necessary, then you must be happy being fleeced.

[andyh]

I figure it costs more because to be competitive than ever before.

What’s your explanation?

If you think £97 for a football match is necessary, then you must be happy being fleeced.

if you think £97 is too much, just dont go

[Ads]

But people want to go, really badly, so they will go. Hence why it's exploitative. This is not market forces at play, as there is a monopoly on the product. £97 is obscene. £79 is abysmal too.

[Clampy]

I figure it costs more because to be competitive than ever before.

What’s your explanation?

If you think £97 for a football match is necessary, then you must be happy being fleeced.

if you think £97 is too much, just dont go

My seat would have been £79 had i chose to 'excersise my right'. I chose not to.

[algy]

But people want to go, really badly, so they will go. Hence why it's exploitative. This is not market forces at play, as there is a monopoly on the product. £97 is obscene. £79 is abysmal too.

And this is the thing Heck and NSWE risk breaking. It’s not so much the people already going. Most of us are hooked to the point where we’ll pay £97 despite the fact it’s obscene. I probably will, for example.

But my kids? I very much doubt they’ll have the same ties. I can’t afford to take them that often, and I’m sure many are in the same boat. At which point, when they’re adults I wonder if they’ll be as blindly loyal as I am or whether they’ll see those ticket prices and decide to just watch on the telly, or follow Wrexham instead, or get in to rugby (shudder)

[LeeB]

I figure it costs more because to be competitive than ever before.

What’s your explanation?

If you think £97 for a football match is necessary, then you must be happy being fleeced.

if you think £97 is too much, just dont go

My seat would have been £79 had i chose to 'excersise my right'. I chose not to.

Same here.

[Somniloquism]

My seat would have been £79 had i chose to 'excersise my right'. I chose not to.

Ahh, but then you are caving to what Heck wants and he can get an extra £20 quid in reselling it.

[RamboandBruno]

I figure it costs more because to be competitive than ever before.

What’s your explanation?

You’ve moved your own goal posts though. You’ve intimated that the more corporate seating the more competitive prices for sesson ticket holders, which is clearly not the case.

Anyway, Ads has articulated the issue far better than me, so I’ll leave this here. 

[Reuben]

But people want to go, really badly, so they will go. Hence why it's exploitative. This is not market forces at play, as there is a monopoly on the product. £97 is obscene. £79 is abysmal too.

And this is the thing Heck and NSWE risk breaking. It’s not so much the people already going. Most of us are hooked to the point where we’ll pay £97 despite the fact it’s obscene. I probably will, for example.

But my kids? I very much doubt they’ll have the same ties. I can’t afford to take them that often, and I’m sure many are in the same boat. At which point, when they’re adults I wonder if they’ll be as blindly loyal as I am or whether they’ll see those ticket prices and decide to just watch on the telly, or follow Wrexham instead, or get in to rugby (shudder)

We're all supporting Wrexham on Monday!

[Chico Hamilton III]

I figure it costs more because to be competitive than ever before.

What’s your explanation?

If you think £97 for a football match is necessary, then you must be happy being fleeced.

if you think £97 is too much, just dont go

Yep, thanks for your decades of loyal support, dedication and sacrifice, now pay up or fuck off!!