What New Ownership Means For The Future Of The Colts

Forbes

Jim Irsay’s daughters have inherited an NFL team that has been in their family for 53 years and is now worth $5.9 billion—making them among the richest female owners in sports.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/justinbirnbaum/2025/09/07/meet-the-new-billionaire-owners-of-the-indianapolis-colts/  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00Today on Forbes, meet the new billionaire owners of the Indianapolis Colts.

00:06On a somber day in June, a month after Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Ursae's unexpected death,

00:12his three daughters sat before a room of reporters with the tough task of addressing the team's

00:17future. Asked to reflect on the lessons they had learned from their late father over the years,

00:23Carly Ursae Gordon, the eldest of the three and the franchise's newly appointed CEO,

00:28chimed in with one of his habits the sisters did not plan to emulate. Drawing laughs from the crowd,

00:34the 44-year-old Ursae Gordon said, quote, well, maybe tweeting. Moving past her father's

00:41outspokenness on social media, Ursae Gordon offered bits of wisdom, like the importance of hiring the

00:46right people and empowering them to do their jobs, giving back to the community, and chasing big ideas,

00:52even when they seem crazy. But as she sat beside her siblings, Casey Foyt, who's 42,

00:58and Kaylin Jackson, who's 38, Ursae Gordon dwelled on one point her father had repeatedly stressed,

01:05the significance of the Colts to their family. In fact, it's all they've ever known.

01:11The franchise has been run by an Ursae since 1972, when the sister's grandfather, Robert,

01:17acquired the team for a then-record price of $19 million. When he died 25 years later,

01:23a 37-year-old Jim ascended to the owner's box, ushering in an age of prosperity as the Colts,

01:30worth an estimated $227 million in Forbes' inaugural NFL team valuations in 1998,

01:37appreciated nearly 2,500% to $5.9 billion today. The run-up gave Ursae an estimated fortune of

01:46$4.8 billion at the time of his death at 65 in May. Now, control has passed on to his three daughters,

01:55a circumstance Ursae Gordon called, quote, bittersweet. The skyrocketing value of NFL

02:00franchises has placed the three among the richest female owners in sports. Forbes estimates that

02:06Ursae Gordon, Foyt, and Jackson are each worth $1.9 billion, based on equal 33.3% stakes in the

02:14Colts. While those eye-watering numbers might make the idea of cashing out tempting, especially after

02:20a slew of record-setting minority transactions around the NFL over the past year, the Ursae heirs

02:26are proud to lead one of the league's few franchises solely under family control.

02:30And they plan to keep it that way. In June, Ursae Gordon said, quote,

02:37We come from a family that didn't start a hedge fund or some other business and do this,

02:41especially the generation we're in. This is our business and we take it very seriously.

02:47Foyt mentioned that the sisters and their father all had matching horseshoe tattoos.

02:53Under Jim Ursae, the Colts, in 1998, drafted a promising young quarterback named Peyton Manning,

02:59with a roster that also eventually featured Hall of Famers Marvin Harrison,

03:03Edgerin James, and Dwight Freeney, the Colts became a perennial contender,

03:08winning 10 or more games for nine consecutive seasons.

03:11In February 2007, the Colts beat the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XLI.

03:17Ursae then delivered the franchise a new $720 million home with the opening of Lucas Oil Stadium

03:23in 2008, using a reported $666 million in public financing from municipal bonds.

03:30As much success as Ursae had on the field, he had his struggles away from the game.

03:36His father and grandfather were alcoholics, he later recalled,

03:39and Ursae had his own battles with substance abuse.

03:42In 2002, he admitted that he was addicted to painkillers.

03:46Ursae was often open about his addiction,

03:48saying he had been to rehab at least 15 times

03:51and founding the mental health charity Kicking the Stigma.

03:56In August, three months after his death,

03:58the Washington Post reported that Ursae had relapsed in the last two years of his life,

04:02taking worrying amounts of opioids and ketamine.

04:06Foyt told reporters in June that even though Ursae's death came, quote,

04:10sooner than we thought, he had been preparing his daughters for a future in football.

04:15Long before the three sisters were publicly named Colts co-owners in 2012,

04:20they had spent countless years around the organization,

04:23with their lives always revolving around the NFL schedule.

04:27In June, Jackson said, quote,

04:29For full coverage, check out Justin Birnbaum's piece on Forbes.com.

04:50This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes.

04:53Thanks for tuning in.

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