On New Year’s Eve, Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale went to bed while the Ohio State–Georgia game was still in action. So he wasn’t aware of the final result until he woke up on New Year’s Day.
But he was well aware of the first College Football Playoff semifinal between TCU and Michigan. The Horned Frogs notched a 51-45 upset in a wildly entertaining game.
When McIngvale saw that Georgia rallied to pull off a 42-41 victory in the second CFP semifinal, his thoughts next turned to check the odds on the CFP championship game. At that moment, he knew he had to act.
I caught up with McIngvale to talk about his big bets on the title game.
‘Just shocked’
Despite all the difficulty Georgia had in beating Ohio State, the Bulldogs still opened as hefty 13.5-point favorites at FOX Bet for the national title game against TCU. And the moneyline – just betting on which team wins the game – was even more enticing for the Houston furniture store magnate.
“I was just shocked when I saw that moneyline at TCU +430 or whatever it was,” McIngvale said Wednesday. “At that point, it made good sense to do a promotion.”
Ah, yes. You see, McIngvale usually ties his big wagers to promotions at his furniture store. The bet is a hedge against the promotion. And the promotion usually involves bedding sets. Hence, his nickname of Mattress Mack.
In this instance, customers who buy mattresses ranging from $3,000 to $10,000 or so will get double their money back if TCU wins Monday night’s championship game at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. And to help cover his potential losses, McIngvale placed a $1.5 million bet on TCU moneyline +370 at DraftKings – a wager that would net $5.55 million in profit if the Horned Frogs win.
But wait, there’s more
In addition, Mattress Mack placed a $1 million point-spread bet on TCU +13 at Caesars Sports to win approximately $900,000. Caesars also confirmed taking a $500,000 bet from McIngvale on TCU moneyline +400, potentially another $2 million in winnings if the Horned Frogs pull the big upset.
And WynnBet verified that it took a Mattress Mack bet of approximately $131,500 on TCU +380 to win $500,000. All totaled, McIngvale could pocket about $9 million, which he then expects to return to customers who take advantage of the promotion prior to Monday’s 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff.
The potential payout is not the record $75 million McIngvale won and subsequently doled out to customers in a similar promotion on the Houston Astros to win the World Series last season. But for basically a one-week promotion, it’s significant. And Mattress Mack is confident.
“It should be a fun promotion, and I think TCU has a real chance,” McIngvale said, while acknowledging that – with TCU based in Fort Worth – this wager strays from his typical bets, which are usually on Houston-based teams. “A lot of TCU fans live in Houston, and we’re not far from Dallas/Fort Worth. People are excited about it. All Texans, no matter where they’re from, like to root for teams from Texas.”
Patrick Everson is a sports betting analyst for FOX Sports and senior reporter for VegasInsider.com. He is a distinguished journalist in the national sports betting space. He’s based in Las Vegas, where he enjoys golfing in 110-degree heat. Follow him on Twitter: @PatrickE_Vegas
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