UNT Alumnus 'Mattress Mack' On How His Outrageous Sports Bets Built A $240 Million Empire

Jonnyeagle · April 30, 2022

For some sports gamblers, betting on the Super Bowl coin toss is about as good as the odds can get. But for , Jim McIngvale the Houston furniture mogul known as “Mattress Mack,” placing multi-million-dollar wagers on the big game and other marquee sporting events offers a different strategy—heads I win, tails I win.

For years, McIngvale, who owns the three-store chain Gallery Furniture, has made his headline-grabbing wagers not for gambling glory, but as sensible hedges against his big sales promotions. During the Super Bowl, March Madness, the World Series, and other events, Mack will place a giant bet on one team—either a Texas club or one closest geographically to his home state—and offer customers a full refund if they win.

During this year’s NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, for example, he wagered $5.5 million on Kansas and ran a promotion to refund all customers who spent $3,000 or more on certain types of mattresses and furniture if the Jayhawks won. Right after Kansas beat the University of North Carolina on Monday night, Mack and his 20-person sales team received a stream of text messages from their customers: We won! We won! “When does a furniture salesman get a text at midnight from a customer?” McIngvale asks.

One customer bought seven mattresses for a total of $38,000 and another bought $40,000 worth of furniture to outfit a new home. “I’ve always heard about his promotions on the news, but I never needed furniture until now,” says Robert Cruz, who has a new house full of new, free furniture. “When I heard the score I said, ‘Wow. That’s cool.”

Read more: https://www.forbes.com/sites/willyakowicz/2022/04/06/mattress-mack-jim-mcingvale-sports-bets-march-madness-super-bowl/?sh=75b1d2eb5264