The Irsay household will public sale off the vast majority of the memorabilia assortment owned by Jim Irsay — a compilation of things for which the late Indianapolis Colts proprietor as soon as mentioned he was provided greater than $1 billion.
The public sale will probably be run by Christie’s beginning in March, with the Irsay household planning to maintain some choose objects and offering a portion of proceeds to charity.
“This resolution was not made evenly, however with deep reflection and love for the legacy he constructed,” the Irsay household mentioned in a press release Thursday launched by the Colts. “Our dad was a passionate collector, pushed not by possession, however by a profound appreciation for the wonder, historical past and cultural resonance of the objects he curated. From iconic devices to handwritten lyrics by legends to uncommon historic artifacts and paperwork, each bit within the assortment tells a narrative — and he was all the time so excited to share these tales with the world.”
Largely recognized for its huge number of musical devices, together with ones owned by members of the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Prince, Kurt Cobain and Eric Clapton, the gathering has additionally contained such objects as Muhammad Ali’s “Rumble within the Jungle” championship belt, the saddle used for Secretariat’s Triple Crown run and a more-than-200-year-old copy of the Declaration of Independence.
Christie’s mentioned the gathering “contains extraordinary sports activities and film memorabilia, U.S. presidential artifacts, extraordinarily uncommon books, paperwork and manuscripts with a deal with American historical past, the ‘Beatnik’ motion and far more.”
A number of the gathering had been used as a part of a sequence of touring exhibitions and live shows lately, together with a one-year run at Indiana College that led to September.
Irsay mentioned in 2023 that he thought the gathering would “all the time be collectively” however famous that it in the end would not be as much as him.
“Look, it isn’t mine. I all the time say, you by no means see a hearse pulling a U-Haul,” Irsay mentioned. “I imply, I do not personal something. Another person goes to personal it, and another person goes to be in right here.”
Irsay, who had owned the Colts since 1997, died in Could on the age of 65. His three daughters have since taken over possession of a staff that’s off to an NFL-best 7-1 begin in 2025 behind quarterback Daniel Jones and operating again Jonathan Taylor.
ESPN’s Stephen Holder contributed to this report.