What's going on: After the Indianapolis Colts’ season opener, it wasn’t the team’s 33-8 win that was making headlines — it was their new CEO: Carlie Irsay-Gordon. Months after the death of her father, Jim Irsay, Carlie made her debut as the Colts chief executive and one of its owners. The Colts are now in the hands of Carlie and her two younger sisters. In recent weeks, clips of her on the sidelines have lit up social media — earpiece in, play-call sheet in hand, and pen at the ready. If you didn’t know better, you might mistake her for a coach. But for Irsay-Gordon, it’s simple: anyone paying coaches and GMs “millions” should be just as involved to help “make a less expensive mistake potentially.”
Our take: A female owner calling the shots on the NFL sideline? Iconic. But Carlie isn’t the only one redefining what NFL ownership looks like. Around half a dozen other teams across the league have women with controlling shares or active ownership roles. While the NFL has long been a boys’ club, the playbook — and gender lines — have been changing (see: male cheerleaders and the Taylor Swift effect). The evolution hasn’t come without criticism — some say Carlie is micromanaging the team. Still, others view her presence as “powerful.” Even Colts players back her involvement, saying she makes the organization feel like a family, as much as a $5.9 billion franchise can, anyway.
