The NSWE Board

[wishywashy]

1 hour ago, allani said:

Unless they are the kind of projects that Aston Villa can afford to develop bit our new "indirect owners" with big pockets and relevant expertise can then pursue their own development projects and then lease them to Villa?  I do think we'll see several of the things that have been implemented in Philadelphia applied to Villa Park in the short-term as they will allow revenue to be raised for relatively little outlay (if any - e.g. my understanding is that Comcast actually paid for the manufacture and installation of the scoreboard at the Wells Fargo stadium) and quite quickly.

But I agree that the deal makes even more sense with a bigger project.  I don't entirely know how easy it would be for Comcast to build a multi-sports / leisure / entertainment stadium close to Aston and then lease it to Villa.  Would that make the process harder than us doing it?  Does it really fit with the spirit of FFP?  But then does FFP really fit in with the spirit of fair competition if clubs are worried about investment projects that might inadvertently hit on FFP issues?  I don't know but it does kind of feel like the Comcast thing does give us more options to explore that could de-risk things for us. 

If we are that close on FFP for this year - it certainly explains why the club wouldn't be able to afford any reduction in capacity over the next two seasons even if that means a bigger capacity from then on.  And it also explains why Heck wouldn't be able to directly say that and would have to announce another reason for the redevelopment being put on hold.  In which case fans pushing / demanding a clearer explanation might actually be putting the club in more difficulty than we should be?

Fully agree with you here, there are a lot of different, very interesting paths that can be taken if Comcast really want to boost and benefit from Villa's revenue. I didn't realise the extent to which Comcast have had venue experience under Comcast Spectacor: at one point they were managing hundreds of American venues (as well as Wells Fargo).

On Atairos' website, you have Spectra, the company who managed these venues (although they were sold off a few years ago), listed as a former partner. Learfield is another very interesting company directly owned by Atairos: they're a big college sports marketing firm who also do venue management. 

Their scope for project development at Villa could potentially be very wide-reaching in ways we might not expect: we'll probably see them having a big influence in Villa Park over the next few years in the ways you've suggested.

Not too sure about Comcast building a new stadium and leasing it, as stadium redevelopment isn't considered expenditure under FFP. Do agree that FFP is probably why they've canned the North Stand redevelopment because of the reduced capacity, but building a new stadium would get around this income hit. Everton's stadium does relate to their FFP breaches but that's because they seemingly tried to pass off some of their expenses as part of the redevelopment when it wasn't.

I do really have this feeling that Villa might be exploring a new stadium though, regardless of whether they themselves do it or Comcast step in, and that's the primary reason why Atairos have invested. Villa Park is really starting to show both its age and its limitations (especially compared to Everton and Spurs' stadiums), will probably continue to do so in spite of short-term revenue boosting changes (possibly with the support of Atairos), and the initial strategy of gradual modernisation and expansion seems to have hit a roadblock.

Edited February 19 by wishywashy

[allani]

1 hour ago, wishywashy said:

Fully agree with you here, there are a lot of different, very interesting paths that can be taken if Comcast really want to boost and benefit from Villa's revenue. I didn't realise the extent to which Comcast have had venue experience under Comcast Spectacor: at one point they were managing hundreds of American venues (as well as Wells Fargo).

On Atairos' website, you have Spectra, the company who managed these venues (although they were sold off a few years ago), listed as a former partner. Learfield is another very interesting company directly owned by Atairos: they're a big college sports marketing firm who also do venue management. 

Their scope for project development at Villa could potentially be very wide-reaching in ways we might not expect: we'll probably see them having a big influence in Villa Park over the next few years in the ways you've suggested.

Not too sure about Comcast building a new stadium and leasing it, as stadium redevelopment isn't considered expenditure under FFP. Do agree that FFP is probably why they've canned the North Stand redevelopment because of the reduced capacity, but building a new stadium would get around this income hit. Everton's stadium does relate to their FFP breaches but that's because they seemingly tried to pass off some of their expenses as part of the redevelopment when it wasn't.

I do really have this feeling that Villa might be exploring a new stadium though, regardless of whether they themselves do it or Comcast step in, and that's the primary reason why Atairos have invested. Villa Park is really starting to show both its age and its limitations (especially compared to Everton and Spurs' stadiums), will probably continue to do so in spite of short-term revenue boosting changes (possibly with the support of Atairos), and the initial strategy of gradual modernisation and expansion seems to have hit a roadblock.

My reason for suggesting this is that should the costs of the new stadium over-run then effectively those risks would (in the short term) sit with Comcast and not us.  So if additional expenses were incurred then we'd be less exposed to having to explain them away / avoid them showing somewhere within the bounds of FFP.  It just puts an extra barrier between us and any risk associated with the infrastructure projects (which are notorious for over-running).

I suspect that the Everton findings have possibly spooked senior officials at many clubs because there was a lot less tolerence shown than might have been expected.  As a result I do think that clubs will be a little bit less gung-ho about their forecasts for expected league placing, progress in European / domestic cups, etc.  Because for every forecast that you get wrong you'll need to find a way of very quickly balancing that elsewhere.  Everton got it VERY wrong in a lot of ways.  But I think people will also be looking at Forest and questioning how selling a player in August for £10m more than was offered in June was an act of financial impropriety (which is what FFP is supposed to prevent).

Edited February 19 by allani

[allani]

1 hour ago, wishywashy said:

I do really have this feeling that Villa might be exploring a new stadium though, regardless of whether they themselves do it or Comcast step in, and that's the primary reason why Atairos have invested. Villa Park is really starting to show both its age and its limitations (especially compared to Everton and Spurs' stadiums), will probably continue to do so in spite of short-term revenue boosting changes (possibly with the support of Atairos), and the initial strategy of gradual modernisation and expansion seems to have hit a roadblock.

It does have to be said that I'm struggling to see a way in which (regardless of issues like is there enough space at our current site, would we get the planning permission, etc) we can expand / renovate VP without taking a revenue hit over a number of seasons as certain stands would need to be closed (fully or partially) to allow that work to be done - without us either moving away from VP temporarily whilst that work is done (but there aren't exactly a lot of friendly 40,000+ seater stadiums nearby and would 40,000 people be happy having to drive / take the train to Wembley or Twickenham in the meantime - just as an example of stadia that might be willing to host us) or moving away from VP permanently so those facilities can be developed separately.  Unless of course the PL / UEFA issue some much firmer "guidelines" about the secondary impact on revenue of major infrastructure development projects.

[limpid]

Please use the v-sports thread to talk about v-sports. Please use the Villa Park redevelopment thread to talk about stadium improvements..

[wishywashy]

There has been an influx of directorial appointments at Aston Villa Limited. Angelakis has been appointed, as expected, but 3 other people too: each of them are representatives who work for Angelakis, Wes and Sawiris respectively. 

https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/00046572/filing-history

Quote

15 Apr 2024	Appointment of Mr Michael Angelakis as a director on 12 April 2024	View PDF Appointment of Mr Michael Angelakis as a director on 12 April 2024 - link opens in a new window - 2 pages(2 pages)
15 Apr 2024	Appointment of Mr Chester Hall as a director on 12 April 2024	View PDF Appointment of Mr Chester Hall as a director on 12 April 2024 - link opens in a new window - 2 pages(2 pages)
15 Apr 2024	Appointment of Mr Sarah Louise Waterson as a director on 12 April 2024	View PDF Appointment of Mr Sarah Louise Waterson as a director on 12 April 2024 - link opens in a new window - 2 pages(2 pages)
15 Apr 2024	Appointment of Mr Bashir Lebada as a director on 12 April 2024

 

[ender4]

7 minutes ago, wishywashy said:

There has been an influx of directorial appointments at Aston Villa Limited. Angelakis has been appointed, as expected, but 3 other people too: each of them are representatives who work for Angelakis, Wes and Sawiris respectively. 

https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/00046572/filing-history

 

I want to know whether Mr Sarah Louise is a man, woman, trans, just likes female names, or what?

[zab6359]

2 minutes ago, ender4 said:

I want to know whether Mr Sarah Louise is a man, woman, trans, just likes female names, or what?

Pronouns are ‘they/them’

[villarule123]

We could be weeks away from achieving the goal Nas & Wes set when they bought the club, CL in 5 years. 

[wishywashy]

1 hour ago, wishywashy said:

There has been an influx of directorial appointments at Aston Villa Limited. Angelakis has been appointed, as expected, but 3 other people too: each of them are representatives who work for Angelakis, Wes and Sawiris respectively. 

https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/00046572/filing-history

 

Angelakis is listed as a "Commercial Director" within his occupation. To compare, Nas and Wes are "Businessmen" and the others are just down as "Company Director". Rather indicative of what Atairos' input is going to focus on.

Or maybe it's just a mistake given the above error!

Edited April 15 by wishywashy

[limpid]

30 minutes ago, wishywashy said:

Angelakis is listed as a "Commercial Director" within his occupation. To compare, Nas and Wes are "Businessmen" and the others are just down as "Company Director". Rather indicative of what Atairos' input is going to focus on.

Or maybe it's just a mistake given the above error!

I can't see the shareholders getting upset if the (job) titles aren't correct. No-one is investing based on this information.

[Vive_La_Villa]

1 hour ago, villarule123 said:

We could be weeks away from achieving the goal Nas & Wes set when they bought the club, CL in 5 years. 

Did they set this goal? I think that was the doc.

Championship to Champions League in 5 years during the times of FFP would be incredible. 

Edited April 15 by Vive_La_Villa

[Kiwivillan]

1 minute ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

Did they set this goal? I think that was the doc.

Lerner and Co was the 5 year plan. 

[Czarnikjak]

2 hours ago, villarule123 said:

We could be weeks away from achieving the goal Nas & Wes set when they bought the club, CL in 5 years. 

That would be fantastic turnaround and big milestone for them. Did anyone really believe this is possible when we were on a brink of administration?

[HeyAnty]

https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/aston-villa-board-changes-arrive-28998266
 

Quote

The addition of four new directors to the Aston Villa board has been confirmed days after a key agreement was cemented.

Over the weekend it was confirmed that the deal between V Sports, the Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens firm that owns Villa, and American investment firm Atairos had been completed, with Atairos taking a minority position in V Sports.

new investment deal it was

[MotoMkali]

4 hours ago, wishywashy said:

There has been an influx of directorial appointments at Aston Villa Limited. Angelakis has been appointed, as expected, but 3 other people too: each of them are representatives who work for Angelakis, Wes and Sawiris respectively. 

https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/00046572/filing-history

 

It seems Sarah Waterson is in charge of Wes' high speed rail project and Bashir is head of Oshacom Construction.

It seems likely they are planning an advisory board for a new stadium. 

[Risso]

Given the company involved, and the background of the individuals appointed, this is very strongly pointing to NSWE looking at a major development, ie huge multi use development with a new stadium. Hopefully that's what they're planning, anyway.

[villan-scott]

I for one welcome our new construction/monorail overlords. 

[andycv]

5 minutes ago, Risso said:

Given the company involved, and the background of the individuals appointed, this is very strongly pointing to NSWE looking at a major development, ie huge multi use development with a new stadium. Hopefully that's what they're planning, anyway.

I've said this in the Villa Park development thread - but all the new Directors have also been appointed as Directors of NSWE Stadium Ltd - which owns Villa Park and is listed as a property investment company.

[OutByEaster?]

It's a fascinating development and there are lots of different things in it.

Firstly, what sticks out for me is that it's not always the case that a minority investor would expect a place on the board and the fact that Atairos through Michael Angelakis have taken that route suggests that they aren't in it just to put some money in and sit and watch it. The board position suggests that they're here to do something, to contribute through doing more than dropping £100m and saying 'on you go lads, make us a profit'.

The second thing that's surprising is that each of what are now the three main men on our board have all added what is essentially a number two; Nassif with Bashier Lebada, Wes with Sarah Waterson and Michael Angelakis with Chester Hall. More than anything else, and ignoring the skillsets for the moment, that suggests that there's a lot of whatever the 'something' is that needs to be done - each of our owners has put in place a trusted pair of eyes that's capable of acting in their interests and in driving forward whatever it is we're going to do. Perhaps it's the case that Nassif and Wes want to do a little less, perhaps they're very successful elsewhere and have their hands full, but I don't think it's that, I don't think they need extra hands for that, I think it's that there's a lot of something to do.

in terms of skillsets, it's often overlooked that the man with most experience in construction and development on that list is Nassif Sawiris, he's a big part in the building of the new Egyptian administrative capital city, an enormous project that's creating a city for six million people out of nothing in the Egyptian desert. The addition of new partners doesn't necessarily add any more than we would need if we only had Nassif in terms of construction. What we've got though are people with huge experience in the sports and event industry and infrastructure development in Atairos and their backers, both in terms of physical infrastructure and in terms of digital and marketing infrastructure, and that's doubled down with Lebada's massive experience in construction and Waterson's experience in infrastructure finance.

In terms of experience, know-how and the tools you'd need to drive forward the business of a football club, it's a heck of a team - but it doesn't necessarily translate immediately to 'new stadium' - we had enough to do that already - it doesn't necessarily mean no new stadium either and this team have been put together for something, we just don't know what 'something' is yet.

It's exciting, there are things happening, the club is changing, I'd hope we don't see any lessening of the influence or impact of Wes Edens or Nassif Sawiris and I'm very hopeful we won't, they've been just about perfect as owners, and I'm both excited and optimistic to see what it is we're planning to do over the next few years. 

Something is happening, and though we don't yet have any real idea what 'something' is, we're putting together a serious group of people who want to get it done.

[MotoMkali]

6 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said:

It's a fascinating development and there are lots of different things in it.

Firstly, what sticks out for me is that it's not always the case that a minority investor would expect a place on the board and the fact that Atairos through Michael Angelakis have taken that route suggests that they aren't in it just to put some money in and sit and watch it. The board position suggests that they're here to do something, to contribute through doing more than dropping £100m and saying 'on you go lads, make us a profit'.

The second thing that's surprising is that each of what are now the three main men on our board have all added what is essentially a number two; Nassif with Bashier Lebada, Wes with Sarah Waterson and Michael Angelakis with Chester Hall. More than anything else, and ignoring the skillsets for the moment, that suggests that there's a lot of whatever the 'something' is that needs to be done - each of our owners has put in place a trusted pair of eyes that's capable of acting in their interests and in driving forward whatever it is we're going to do. Perhaps it's the case that Nassif and Wes want to do a little less, perhaps they're very successful elsewhere and have their hands full, but I don't think it's that, I don't think they need extra hands for that, I think it's that there's a lot of something to do.

in terms of skillsets, it's often overlooked that the man with most experience in construction and development on that list is Nassif Sawiris, he's a big part in the building of the new Egyptian administrative capital city, an enormous project that's creating a city for six million people out of nothing in the Egyptian desert. The addition of new partners doesn't necessarily add any more than we would need if we only had Nassif in terms of construction. What we've got though are people with huge experience in the sports and event industry and infrastructure development in Atairos and their backers, both in terms of physical infrastructure and in terms of digital and marketing infrastructure, and that's doubled down with Lebada's massive experience in construction and Waterson's experience in infrastructure finance.

In terms of experience, know-how and the tools you'd need to drive forward the business of a football club, it's a heck of a team - but it doesn't necessarily translate immediately to 'new stadium' - we had enough to do that already - it doesn't necessarily mean no new stadium either and this team have been put together for something, we just don't know what 'something' is yet.

It's exciting, there are things happening, the club is changing, I'd hope we don't see any lessening of the influence or impact of Wes Edens or Nassif Sawiris and I'm very hopeful we won't, they've been just about perfect as owners, and I'm both excited and optimistic to see what it is we're planning to do over the next few years. 

Something is happening, and though we don't yet have any real idea what 'something' is, we're putting together a serious group of people who want to get it done.

Certainly I think Wes and Nassef probably enjoy being somewhat handson with the club. Nassef especially. Wes also has the bucks to pay attention too after all.