There is an old adage that says that if you really believe in something, you should “put your money where your mouth is.” It appears that one Houston Astros fan is doing just that, as Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale has wagered $3.5 million on his beloved Astros to win the 2019 World Series.
The Houston Astros entered the 2019 season as favorites to win baseball’s biggest crown. The team was at +220 for the odds when McIngvale placed his bet with DraftKings sportsbook in Mississippi. That means that if Houston should win the title, he will win $7.7 million.
Gallery Furniture owner Jim McIngvale has been offering promotions at his stores all season long. For much of this season, he has been offering to fans that if the Astros should win the World Series that he would refund $3000 to those who made a mattress purchase.
This is not the first time that the owner has made such an offer. In 2017 he promised fans that they would receive a $3000 refund on purchases made at the store only to see the team go all the way to win the championship, their first in franchise history. That cost Mattress Mack more than $10 million.
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Clearly, McIngvale did not want to suffer those kinds of losses again, so he looked to hedge his bets by offsetting the costs, placing a bet of his own. He explained in a recent interview that his current liability is more than $15 million, so he looked around to find the place that offered him the best opportunity to place the largest bet.
“I had a lot more markets to shop around to,” he told The Action Network. “It’s the biggest bet of my life and I’m thrilled DraftKings and the Scarlet Pearl was willing to take it.”
It is reported that he has placed bets in Nevada and New Jersey as well, and could earn as much as $20 million should the Houston Astros win the World Series. That would surely offset any loss he would suffer.
This will likely go down as the largest bet of the season. According to a review done by ESPN, the $3.5 million that McIngvale wagered was almost as much as what was bet on baseball at Scarlet Pearl for the months of June through August combined.
“I think it’s the biggest (bet) that’s ever happened in Mississippi,” explained DraftKings chief revenue officer and co-founder Matt Kalish to ESPN.
Even if McIngvale winds up losing significant amounts of money, he won’t be standing in front of a freeway off-ramp begging for money anytime soon. According to his financial records, the Gallery Furniture stores gross an annual revenue of somewhere between $150-$200 million per year.