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| Profile |
Team Player
Bob Margolis
01/01/2008
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Mark Ganis, a consultant with Sportscorp in Chicago, says,
"Jim’s influence has grown markedly over the past three seasons. He never used
the small-market situation as an excuse for not winning. His ability to keep
talent and bring in a coach like Tony Dungy, to win and lose with grace, ink a
solid stadium deal, and come within a few votes of having Indianapolis host the
2011 Super Bowl all contribute to why he commands the respect of each and every
owner in the league."
 | IRSAY'S COLLECTION includes a Gibson guitar signed by coach Tony
Dungy and quarterback Peyton Manning. (Photograph by Kevin Foster, Twenty Twenty Photography.) |
By all accounts, since taking over in the 1997 season, Irsay
has spent money intelligently and hired smart football people, including Bill
Polian, the team’s current president. After just one year on the job he
replaced the coach and chose quarterback Peyton Manning as the first pick in the
1998 NFL draft, passing up the now-forgotten Ryan Leaf. After going 3–13 in
1998, the Colts turned things around, literally, going 13–3 in 1999.
The Colts’ new $675 million stadium began construction in early
2006, and had a name by March. Lucas Oil Products agreed to a $121.5 million
naming-rights deal that is a cornerstone of the team’s strategy to maintain one
of the league’s highest payrolls, despite playing in a small market. The Colts
will play home games in the newly christened Lucas Oil Stadium for at least the
next 20 years.
In working out the construction deal, Irsay exhibited patience
with the city’s political structure and kept rumors of a move to Los Angeles
from getting out of hand. "At the end of the day, I don’t care how good a
negotiator you are," he says, "you need leverage. But after watching what
happened in Baltimore, we learned a few lessons."
Under the terms of the agreement that the Colts worked out with
state and city officials in 2005, the Colts keep all revenue related to naming
rights. The team is also making naming and design rights available for 12 parts
of the stadium. Corporate boxes, known as suite-level sponsorships—including
one for the inaugural signee, ProLiance Energy—run around $600,000 per season.
These side deals are expected to kick in up to $10 million annually for the
franchise after the retractable-roof stadium opens in 2008.
Lucas Oil Stadium made Indianapolis competitive in its bid to
host the Super Bowl. Despite losing to Dallas in that contest, the forces behind
an Indy Super Bowl hope to launch a bid for 2012. The city has already blocked
out three weeks in 2012 for the event, and Irsay is hoping for a Colts-Seahawks
scrap. "I hear [Seahawks owner] Paul Allen plays a mean version of [Neil
Young’s] ‘Cinnamon Girl,’" he says. "We’ll jam."
Bob Margolis is a freelance writer based in
Brooklyn.
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