This is Carlie Irsay-Gordon: Everything you need to know about the Colts’ new owner and CEO
Everything you need to know about the new Colts owner.
When Jim Irsay passed away in May 2025, the Indianapolis Colts faced the end of an era. For decades, Jim was one of the NFL’s most visible and outspoken owners, steering the franchise through both triumphs and turbulence. But his succession plan was always clear: leadership of the Colts would remain in the family.
That baton has now been passed to his eldest daughter, Carlie Irsay-Gordon, who steps in as principal owner and CEO.
Born in Dallas in 1980, Carlie grew up immersed in football but didn’t simply inherit her role overnight. After graduating from Park Tudor School in Indianapolis, she attended Skidmore College in New York, earning degrees in religious studies and geoscience. She even pursued doctoral work in clinical psychology before turning her full attention to the family business.
By the mid-2000s, she was already sitting in on NFL ownership meetings, and in 2008, she became a vice president for the Colts. When her father was suspended by the league in 2014, Carlie temporarily ran the franchise, gaining valuable experience for the role she now holds permanently.
“She’s been in a majority of my meetings since I’ve been here”
Carlie has taken a hands-on approach to team management, something unusual in NFL ownership circles. She regularly attends practices, sits in on coaching sessions, and even listens in on play-calling during games, as shown in the recent 33-8 win against the Miami Dolphins.
“She’s all around this place,” receivers coach Reggie Wayne said. “She’s been doing that for years.”
“She’s been in a majority of my meetings since I’ve been here,” third-year special teams coordinator Brian Mason added. “So, she’s very hands-on. I think the thing that she’s able to provide some insight in is not kicking or necessarily scheme-based. However, she has a really good understanding of the team, the players, kind of trying to make sure we can get the best out of those players. And, then, she’s back there [in the meeting room]. If something doesn’t make sense, she’s going to ask a question.”
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On her hands-on role, she said, via ESPN: “I need to be able to say, ‘Is this person full of B.S.? Do they even know what they’re talking about?’. It is such a complex organism, a football team and how it operates on game day."
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