Photo Credit: Andy Powell (@MrAndyPowell on Twitter)
As much as Aston Villa’s on-field performances have left fans feeling optimistic, the off-field performance has been dreadful. The latest debacle to hit Villa has been the club’s decision to inflate ticket prices for the four home Champions League games to such an extent that fans are already planning to protest at the next home game versus Everton. The pricing decision has led to widespread condemnation. In the same week as UEFA announced price caps for away fans, Villa’s business operations team constructed a pricing structure of exorbitant levels. The man responsible for the decision is Chris Heck who is President of Business Operations. Looking back at Heck’s career, it is not the first time that he has inflamed fans with such aggressive decisions.
Heck started his business career in the National Basketball Association (NBA) in executive roles. Before joining Villa, Heck had built his name at the Philadelphia 76ers where the team’s growth in terms of revenue and attendance was impressive. In his own words, Heck described his biggest accomplishment as, “we took a $300 million franchise and made it $2.7 billion in worth over a nine-year period, which has never been done in history.” Having established the 76ers as a global brand, according to their owners, it is clear why Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens saw Heck as the ideal candidate to drive the business side of the club forward.
Having succeeded in basketball, could Heck do the same to Villa? Well, Heck has already spent time in football when he performed the job of President of Business Operations in Major League Soccer (MLS) for New York Red Bulls. However, Heck’s time in New York was less than successful and was let go by the club just one year later. In a blog on the New York Times’ website, a less-than-complementary summation of his time in New York was given:
“I don’t think people really comprehend how much damage he’s done in the little time he’s been there,” one team insider said. He added: “He just came off as arrogant and ignorant, and in this business it’s a very bad combination. He was so arrogant, you just couldn’t talk to him. You don’t have to be a 100 percent soccer guy, able to name all the players on Brazil’s 1970 World Cup-winning team, but you have to have a basic understanding of the sport you’re working in. And that was clearly lacking.”
Heck managed to alienate the Red Bulls’ fan base very quickly. The fan blog ‘Once A Metro’ produced several stinging posts to demonstrate their ire. Whether it was making reference to ‘Chris Heck Hates Soccer Fans’ t-shirts, or commenting on season ticket hikes, or responding to Heck’s view that “I'm so glad, on the business perspective, that we haven't won yet” (referencing a lack of winning a championship), this does not augur well for Villa fans.
Red Bulls’ fans had a chant of “Heck no” as they made their feelings known. In one post, called ‘Chris Heck-onomics,’ the writer described what will sound eerily familiar to Villa fans, “Heck raised season ticket prices across Red Bull arena everywhere but in the South Ward, while dividing up many of the sections, leaving a rather convoluted seating chart for 2012.”
Back in July, Heck was interviewed by Philadelphia-based sports site, Crossing Broad. It produced several interesting comments from Heck regarding his time at Villa. Here are a few of them:
On his lack of communication at the start of his tenure
"I kept my mouth shut for the first six months on purpose, and I think that aggravated people because they want to put a camera or microphone in front of your face immediately. If you make any changes, they say, ‘well you didn’t tell us about this,’ and I’m like, ‘we just came up with it a week ago.’ They want to know before you know. And it’s part of the culture where everything is so critically important to them. Everything."
On Villa Park
"We play in a stadium that was built in 1897. Think about that a little bit. It comes with a lot of charm, but headaches as well."
On the development of Villa Park and its commercial appeal
"The other area we’re focused on is that we put a lot of money into completely changing all of our premium seating. It’s a big stadium and we have 5,000 premium seats, about half of which before were made up of suites. So, we wiped them out and made restaurants, clubs, loge boxes, at all of these different price points. Some really cool things. We sold those in a much different fashion to generate a lot more money. Who does that affect? It affects the rich, so the common fan doesn’t get upset with that."
On the financial growth in terms of revenue
"We generated almost 54 million pounds of incremental revenue this past year. That’s off of a 200-million-pound business. The plan is to be four to four hundred and fifty (million pounds) in three more years."
On the fans
"There’s only one thing that matters. It’s European football, and that’s it. That’s what matters. It really is part of their life, their lifestyle, its family, it’s generational. Everyone takes it really personally, and I respect that, and you have to be very careful with that."
Clearly, Heck’s remit is to grow the business side of Aston Villa Football Club. That makes sense in terms of financial sustainability rules for the Premier League and UEFA as well as simply good business sense. No Villa fans would have an issue with that in terms of aims. Where it starts to go wrong is how that is to be achieved. Based on his previous experience, Heck has a plan, and he is going to stick with it again. To do that to the detriment of the fans is misguided at best. Villa fans are not going to go quietly and chants of “Heck no” will be the least of the President of Business Operations’ worries.