James Irsay (born June 13, 1959) is an American businessman and the principal owner, chairman, and CEO of the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL).

He spent time around the team as a youth, including serving as an on-field ball boy and working in the ticket office helping to answer the phones.

[6] Irsay was initially given an orientation in all facets of the administrative and football operations of the Colts before being added to the personnel department ahead of the 1983 season.

[14][15] Since joining the organization in 1984, Irsay has worked with numerous Pro Football Hall of Fame coaches, players and executives, including Eric Dickerson (Pro Football Hall of Fame class of 1999), Marshall Faulk (2011), Bill Polian (2015), Tony Dungy (2016), Marvin Harrison (2016), Edgerrin James (2020) and Peyton Manning (2021).

Saturday previously had no coaching experience beyond the high school football level, and was employed as an NFL analyst for ESPN at the time of his hiring.

[39] In December 2021, the Irsay family donated $3 million to Indiana University to create a research institute dedicated to studying mental health and the stigma associated with it.

[42] Irsay has been a staunch supporter of former Colts head coach Chuck Pagano, who beat acute promyelocytic leukemia after being diagnosed in September 2012.

Since 2012, the galas have raised more than $12 million for research at the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center,[43] where Pagano received treatment.

[46] On March 30, 2023, the Miami Seaquarium announced that Lolita, the park's sole captive orca, would be returned to her natal waters in the Pacific Northwest.

[47][48] Irsay was involved in bankrolling the necessary funds to relocate and release Lolita and her pacific white-sided dolphin companions, Li'i and Loke.

[54] On September 2, 2014, shortly after pleading guilty to operating while intoxicated and being sentenced to one year of probation, Irsay was suspended by the NFL for six games and fined $500,000.

"[56] In a report released by TMZ in January 2024, and repeated and partially verified by other news outlets, Irsay was found unresponsive and struggling to breathe at home and was taken to the hospital on December 8, 2023.

On May 5, 2018, he purchased an original printing of the 1939 book Alcoholics Anonymous with notes handwritten by the author Bill Wilson, cofounder of AA, for $2.4 million at auction.

[67] On June 20, 2019, Irsay paid a record $3.975 million for a guitar, known as The Black Strat, formerly owned by Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour.

[68] On May 23, 2022, Irsay paid a record $4.6 million for the 1969 Fender Mustang played by Nirvana's Kurt Cobain in the music video for "Smells Like Teen Spirit.