Chris Heck - President of Business Operations

[Percy McCarthy]

On a quick look, I'd estimate about a third of season ticket holders haven't taken up their tickets.

The flip side I know a couple of former season ticket holders who are on the waiting list looking at this as probably the only Champions League game they are likely to be able to go to. I am absolutely not using that as a justification for the prices but just to suggest that there is still some demand there.

I know what you are saying, the two old guys I sit next to aren’t going to Champs League games due to the prices but they have reallocated their tickets to others who were ‘desperate’ to go….upgrade from concession to adult, only a few quid but exactly why they made the concession prices so damn high

My dad is the same - as he said, you can buy a firestick and watch every single Villa game for the cost of one ticket.

I’ve had two and got sick of the buffering. My mate invited me round to watch the Palace game (0-5) last season and I went round at half-time. Buffered the entire second half thankfully. “It was working fine til you came in” he said.

I sometimes watch games round my uncle’s via his firestick. Even with minimal buffering, I find the pressure unbearable if it freezes during an opposition attack. Official channels and going to games is expensive, but worth it to me.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

Villa are not alone in the greed fight with their clubs, it seems some are getting organised.

[Percy McCarthy]

I get you don't like Heck, your Carthago daellenda est approach to every post you make leaves us in no doubt, but I really don't understand the analysis there.

We hit the "rocks" in 2010 because we'd allowed 1 man to max out the (limited) Lerner family trust. Lerner was more interested in Jewish folk history come 2010 than running a football club by that point and it appeared that his sister had been updated by the family lawyer to see just how much money he'd wasted. A discreet set of circumstances.

We're owned by 3 entities of extreme wealth. As miraculous as our rise has been, it would be equally miraculous to go the same way in reverse. It is all indexed to those 3 entities and Emery, with Emery's structure around him.

Great Man Theroy in action; Lerner and O'Neil these lot are not. They're infinite levels of wealth, knowledge and ability above.

Prices are elastic, they can expand or contract. There's no way of carving £90 or £79 anyway that I'd like or many of us would like. There might be reasons for this beyond maximising revenue  such as structural or regulatory ones- that would make a lot of sense.

But the idea that if Heck leaves in say 18 months when his son has finished at university, that the club with a ~£400m turnover is some how irreparably damaged and not significantly financially stronger is just garbage. And garbage that's repeated time and time again.

When Lerner sold his shares in MBNA to Bank of America (deal completed 01/01/06) he took the majority of his consideration in Bank of America shares. The Bank of America share price plummeted by more than 90% between January 2006 and February 2009, as a result of the banking crash, resulting in a sizeable decrease in Lerner's personal net worth. This, along with his divorce and philanthropy, were the prime reasons for the mess he got himself in.

Correct.

[Chip Butty 111]

I don't get the maths with this GA+
2000 GA+ seats at £150 = £300,000
Then we have 2000 unsold GA seats say
Add on the fact that each GA+ customer will get through £30  in food/drink for free
So we generate in reality £240,000  when you take off £30 ×2000,  for all 2000 seats
If we sold all 4000 seats at the GA  price of £72 that's £288,000, and that's without any of them spending on food/drink
Apologies if this is garbage and I have this wrong but the Shiraz is open...

[Lsvilla]

It's probably been covered many times in this debate, but what do people think would be a reasonable ticket price for our first Cl venture in 41 years watching a team of world class talent under the guidance of one of the best managers in the world taking on the cream of European football ?

Probably £50 for Z4 and up to £65 for Z1 for Bayern and Juve, maybe slightly less for Celtic, particulalrly if we've "qualified" by then and I'd have made the Bologna game much cheaper than that.

So we're all wetting the bed over about £15-20 then.

"Wetting the bed". Honestly, how is language like that adding to the debate?

We've got the most expensive Champions League tickets of any of the English clubs. It's not exactly a surprise people are not impressed.

Prove it. I don't believe you.

[HolteL4]

If you were running a football club, surely you'd want as many season ticket holders as possible. Guaranteed income at the start of the year regardless of what's going on on the pitch.

If you have a product where demand exceeds supply, largely, then you look at maximising your revenue from the supply you do have.

Season ticket holders return a lot lower revenue-per-supporter than one off ticket sales do.

I am sure the bit about UE not wanting a three sided ground for our CL return is true, but i think there's also a degree of Heck binning the North Stand rebuild because he thinks he can drive up revenue in the short term - and remember, no NS for two or three seasons means reduced revenue - with the number of seats we already have and therefore without us having to spend 100m+ on a new stand.

But if the North Stand was knocked down you'd then have in 2 years a purpose built stand designed for GA+ so would be able to charge even more than they are now because of the standard of the facilities would be at least twice as good as they are now. What Heck is doing is showing he's not a business brain at all. Other thing he could have done is offer every season ticket holder a physical ticket and pitched it as a 150 year anniversary special and could have got away with charging more than £20 and because of the significance of the anniversary people would have paid.

[dekko]

.

[HolteL4]

I wonder if the return of the 10% discount is to help them track season ticket holder’s spend better.

Even that was a joke, gave season ticket holders 10% discount then straight away gave everyone a code to get a 10% discount

[Villan82]

It's probably been covered many times in this debate, but what do people think would be a reasonable ticket price for our first Cl venture in 41 years watching a team of world class talent under the guidance of one of the best managers in the world taking on the cream of European football ?

Probably £50 for Z4 and up to £65 for Z1 for Bayern and Juve, maybe slightly less for Celtic, particulalrly if we've "qualified" by then and I'd have made the Bologna game much cheaper than that.

So we're all wetting the bed over about £15-20 then.

"Wetting the bed". Honestly, how is language like that adding to the debate?

We've got the most expensive Champions League tickets of any of the English clubs. It's not exactly a surprise people are not impressed.

Just be grateful he didn't use Latin.

[LeeB]

It's probably been covered many times in this debate, but what do people think would be a reasonable ticket price for our first Cl venture in 41 years watching a team of world class talent under the guidance of one of the best managers in the world taking on the cream of European football ?

Probably £50 for Z4 and up to £65 for Z1 for Bayern and Juve, maybe slightly less for Celtic, particulalrly if we've "qualified" by then and I'd have made the Bologna game much cheaper than that.

So we're all wetting the bed over about £15-20 then.

"Wetting the bed". Honestly, how is language like that adding to the debate?

We've got the most expensive Champions League tickets of any of the English clubs. It's not exactly a surprise people are not impressed.

Prove it. I don't believe you.

Can you not read? It must make you very easy to manipulate.

[VillaTim]

I assume if we make the knockout phase prices will be held and not rise again.

[dave.woodhall]

I assume if we make the knockout phase prices will be held and not rise again.

Wanna buy a bridge?

[Smirker]

I assume if we make the knockout phase prices will be held and not rise again.

Wanna buy a bridge?

😂

[Gareth]

It's impossible to spend loads of cash in the Witton Upper once you're in. The queues are miles back to get food or drink, then queues for a piss . It's a joke

Just to clarify the cbomb isn’t charging is to pee


Yet

[TonyD]

So Leeds to up the capacity to 53,000 so more fans can enjoy the games.

Heck is to reduce the capacity for normal fans and squeeze us til the pips squeak.