LIV Golf creates new president role, appoints ex-76ers and Aston Villa executive

By

As accomplished sports administrator Chris Heck packed his bags to move home to the US from the UK after a successful stint with English soccer team Aston Villa FC, he made sure to squeeze in one more dream golf trip. He spent three days in St Andrews playing the Old Course and two other golf clubs with his son.

RELATED: Phil Mickelson says there’s a ‘high likelihood’ Oakmont could be his last US Open

Now the DC area native will join LIV Golf with the league announcing Thursday it had appointed Heck, a lifelong golf fan, as its first president of business operations. Heck, who spent two years in the same role at Aston Villa, nine years at president of the Philadelphia 76ers as well as stints at USA Basketball and the New York Red Bulls in Major League Soccer, will be responsible for LIV’s business operations globally.

Heck will step into the role officially on June 16 although the league confirmed he would be at LIV Golf Virginia this weekend at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club – LIV’s final tournament before the US Open at Oakmont Country Club.

League sources say Heck’s focus for LIV will be on a number of areas, including increasing league revenue and on-site attendance worldwide. Low crowd figures are an area where LIV has faced criticism apart from several popular tournaments including LIV Adelaide (Australia), Valderrama (Spain), LIV Golf UK and Miami. Heck will also be tasked with attracting new and more global sponsors, improving the franchise element of LIV teams, overseeing improvements to merchandising and to the perception globally of the 54-hole league’s TV broadcast.

As president of business at Aston Villa 2023 to 2025, Heck oversaw an increase of revenue at the Birmingham-based soccer team from £219 ($457 million) to £370 ($772 million) in two years while the club secured qualification for the European Champions League. Aston Villa also attracted sponsorships from Adidas, Coca Cola, Red Bull, Guinness, and Batano. While Heck was president of the 76ers, from 2013 to 2022, valuations for the Philly NBA franchise rose from $US418 million to $2.7 billion.

RELATED: Marc Leishman hits back at criticism of LIV players at the majors

While Heck was with the 76ers, he also worked with LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil. The two also attended college together at Villanova and worked together in the NBA league offices for a time.

Heck is know for growing crowd attendances at organisations he’s worked for, with Aston Villa recording a 97 percent renewal of season ticket memberships from the 2024 season into 2025 with a waiting list of 42,000 people. Among those fans was Aston Villa supporter Prince William, who attended a majority of the team’s 2024-2025 home and away games.

At the 76ers, the team enjoyed a record 282 consecutive sold-out home games in the 2017/18 season, when Australian point guard and No.1 NBA draft pick Ben Simmons enjoyed a record-setting rookie year. During Heck’s tenure, the Sixers also built its training compound in Camden, New Jersey.

Golf fans will no doubt be curious to see where Heck takes the franchise model of LIV, which were created to give captains such as Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka an equity stake and then eventually be commercialised to receive investment.

Recently, two equipment manufactures entered the LIV franchise space: PING Golf signed with Joaquin Niemann’s Torque GC while Callaway partnered with Jon Rahm’s Legion XIII.

Heck’s arrival coincides with the signing of promising former amateur Josele Ballester, a Spaniard who played at Arizona State. Ballester will make his pro debut at LIV Virginia on Sergio Garcia’s Fireballs team.