It didn’t take long for Jim McIngvale, known as “Mattress Mack,” to get back up from his mattress.
Less than 48 hours after the Astros lost Game 7 of the World Series, the mogul behind Houston’s Gallery Furniture stores, told The Action Network, he’s holding the same promotion he did for 2019 for the 2020 team. Anyone who spends at least $3,000 on a mattress will get their money back if the Astros win next year's World Series.
“We’re starting it up today,” McIngvale said.
McIngvale said his business had $24 million in liabilities from its 2019 promotion. He used the betting market as a means of hedging that liability, traveling to Las Vegas, Mississippi and New Jersey to wager "more than $13 million" on his hometown team to win it all. Mack told The Action Network that bets would've profited around $25 million.
"I may be down $13 million, but I ain't out," McIngvale said, adding that he would use the betting market to hedge again in 2020 if needed, rather than going through the insurance market.
Eric Smallwood of Apex Marketing Group, a sponsorship valuation firm, told The Action Network that Gallery Furniture received $8.6 million in equivalent advertising exposure from media coverage of Mattress Mack over the last month.
You can follow McIngvale's 30-day betting extravaganza here.
