LIV Golf has hired former Aston Villa president Chris Heck as its new president of business operations. Heck joins the organization five months after the golf outfit, backed by the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, brought on Scott O’Neil as its new CEO to replace golf legend Greg Norman.
Known for a history of creating or reviving revenue streams for sports teams, Heck arrives at LIV after two years at the president of business operations with Aston Villa, the 24th most valuable soccer club in the world at $850 million, according to Sportico’s valuations. Under Heck’s watch, the Premier League club’s revenue grew from £219 million ($273 million based on current exchange rates) to £370 million ($462 million) within two years. The £151 million ($205 million) growth is the largest two-year revenue leap by dollar amount in league history.
Heck helped widen the club’s sponsorship portfolio by adding Adidas, Coca-Cola, Guinness, Red Bull and its current jersey sponsor, Greek betting company Betano. Sponsorship revenue is estimate to more than double from around $19 million in 2023 to $44 million this year.
The club’s valuation has increased from $600 million in 2024 to $850 million in 2025, and it generated $343 million in revenue during the 2023-24 Premier League season, the last full season with data available.
Heck and O’Neil have a long working relationship, dating back to their time at the NBA league office, with the team and marketing business operations group. Heck served as president of the Philadelphia 76ers during O’Neil’s eight-year tenure as CEO of Harris Blitzer Sports and Entertainment, which owns the basketball team along with the NHL’s New Jersey Devils.
As the Sixers’ president, Heck engineered the first jersey patch sponsorship for an NBA team when StubHub signed a three-year, $15 million deal in 2016. The Sixers also became the first pro team in the U.S. to sponsor esports when they purchased Dignitas among other esports properties.
Heck spearheaded the development of Philadelphia’s practice complex in nearby Camden, N.J., as well as the Chase Fieldhouse in Wilmington, Del., home to the NBA G League affiliate Delaware Blue Coats. Before he moved on to Aston Villa, the Sixers were in the middle of a team-record 282-game sellout streak at Wells Fargo Center that dated back to the 2017-18 season.
The Sixers are the NBA’s 11th-most valuable team at $4.57 billion, per Sportico valuations, a price tag that has grown by over $2 billion since 2020.
Despite the uncertainty around a potential merger with the PGA Tour, LIV Golf continues to rake in a wide range of major sponsors, including a new multiyear partnership with Salesforce. The software company has just one other league-wide sports sponsorship through its agreement with Formula 1. LIV Golf has also built event marketing relationships with TikTok, Porsche and Caliente.
Earlier this year, LIV secured new global media rights deals with Fox, ITV and DAZN, which has widened the audience for events in Riyadh (2.4 million), Hong Kong (2.6 million) and Adelaide (3.4 million).
LIV continues to try and improve its U.S. television imprint, which has struggled to compete with the PGA Tour’s presence. In May, Golf.com reported that through seven head-to-head matchups against the PGA Tour so far this season, LIV is averaging 175,000 viewers on Fox, FS1 and FS2, while the PGA has nearly 18 times of that audience with 3.1 million between CBS and NBC.
