Indianapolis, IN
My dad cheaply bought the Indianapolis Colts 50-years-ago – now worth billions
THE Indianapolis Colts have a long and heralded history – but only one family has been in control for the last 50 years.
The Irsay’s have had power over the Colts since Robert purchased the team in 1972 for a small sum.
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Irsay traded the Los Angeles Rams to buy the Colts, then centered in Baltimore, for just $14.5million.
Today, the franchise is valued at a staggering $3.8billion.
The team increased its value by over 16 percent in just the previous year.
When buying the team, Irsay even consulted with his young son, now the owner of the Colts, Jim, to get his opinion.
Jim recalls: “Then he came to me and said — and I was only 11 years old at the time — he said, ‘Do you want the Rams or the Colts?’ I said the Rams.”
Despite his son’s preference, Irsay went the other way – but not entirely all by plan.
When Irsay showed up to buy the Colts, he only expected to purchase less than a third of the team, but other investors got cold feet.
Jim says: “He showed up to buy 30 percent of the team or so, and the other investors bailed, so he said, ‘I’ll take 100 percent,’ and he put everything he had into it.
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“He had sold the Robert Irsay Company for $5 million. My mom had to go to the bank to sign the check for everything he had. She always reminded him of that.”
Eventually in 1984, Irsay made the controversial decision to relocate the Colts to Indianapolis.
Irsay would own the team until he suffered a stroke in 1995, passing ownership down to Jim.
Just two years later, Irsay passed away, leaving the franchise entirely to his son.
Since Jim took over in 1995, the Colts have compiled a 258-191-1 regular season record.
Under his ownership, the team has claimed 10 division titles, made the playoffs 18 times, appeared in two Super Bowls, and won Super Bowl XLI in 2007.
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