Tag: jim mcingvale

MLB denies Mattress Mack was blocked from throwing out first pitch at Mattress Firm’s request

The mattress wars have taken an unexpected turn.

Mattress Mack’s claims of being denied a first pitch as part of a mattress war appear to be overblown, according to the MLB.

Over the weekend, Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale alluded that he wasn’t allowed to throw out the first pitch at a recent Houston Astros playoff game because his business competition Mattress Firm was a national sponsor of the MLB.

The league has denied that Mack wasn’t allowed to throw out the first pitch because of any sort of mattress favoritism.

Instead, it deals with a policy the MLB says has to do with national sponsors being the only persons allowed to partake in the pregame ceremony.

“Promotional opportunities, like sponsor first pitches, during the Postseason are reserved for national partners,” MLB Chief Revenue Officer Noah Garden said in a statement. “As a result, MLB independently requested a change to the first pitch. Mattress Firm was not involved in that decision and did not ask for the communication between MLB and the Club.”

Well, there you have it. The MLB has shot down any claims of mattress bias, leaving Mattress Mack left with just claims on the contrary.

We’ll see if McIngvale decides to break out a metaphorical pillow to combat this statement and defend his honor in the ongoing mattress wars.

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How much money did Mattress Mack bet on the 2023 Super Bowl?

If it seems quiet on the Mattress Mack front, there’s a reason for that.

Things have been unusually quiet regarding the bets of Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale, which usually center around the largest events in sports.

He set a U.S. sports betting record with his $75 million winnings from the World Series. Then, he put a couple million on Houston to win the college basketball national championship, and he lost a few million between the college football national championship and the Cowboys’ playoff loss to the 49ers.

But as the Super Bowl approached, the only news surrounding Mack was his surprising opposition to legalizing sports betting in Texas. And now we know why. ESPN’s David Purdham reported that Mack surprisingly didn’t bet on Chiefs-Eagles at all, and he isn’t alone.

According to Purdham, Super Bowl betting has been quieter than normal and only two seven-figure bets have been reported. Even still, the American Gaming Association expects a record number of bettors for this year’s game thanks to more states having legal betting.

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Mattress Mack (of all people) opposes the Texas sports betting legalization bill supported by Jerry Jones

Texas has an unlikely opponent in the form of the state’s most notorious bettor.

The push to legalize mobile sports betting in Texas took another step Monday with the debut of new legislation carried by republican state Sen. Lois Kolkhorst.

Kolkhorst’s relationship with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is expected to give it a chance at succeeding after a previous sports betting bill failed to gain traction in 2021 despite the support of some Texas heavy hitters, including Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and Houston Astros owner Jim Crane.

The two team owners again voiced their support to legalize mobile betting in a statement Monday from the Texas Sports Betting Alliance, each boasting the safety of a regulated market.

However, not everyone is back on board.

An unlikely new opponent of legalizing sports betting in Texas is perhaps the state’s most notorious sports bettor, Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale.

In 2021, McIngvale went so far as to write an opinion piece for the Houston Chronicle about why it was time to legalize betting in Texas. But he’s since had a change of heart, telling the Chronicle the travel required for him to place bets puts a limit on his impulses to do so. He also said he’s concerned the revenue estimates are overblown.

“My change of heart is that I know myself and I’ve seen the light as far as
impulsiveness on me to sports gambling,” said McIngvale, who won the largest payout in U.S. sports betting history last year when the Astros won the World Series. “Because I’ve got to drive to Louisiana, it limits those impulses by a factor of 1,000. So I’m not in favor of sports gambling in Texas.”

Who saw that coming?

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Mattress Mack trolled Dak Prescott with some ‘advice’ after losing his $2 million bet on the Cowboys

Mattress Mack knows how Prescott can get better results.

Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale is an incredible business man. He’s not a very good sports bettor.

The biggest reason his bets fall flat is because the majority are placed on Texas-based teams. Sometimes it works out, like when the Houston Astros won last year’s World Series, netting him the largest payout in U.S. sports betting history. Most of the time, though, the bets lose, like when TCU got blown out in the national championship, or Sunday, when the Dallas Cowboys lost to the San Francisco 49ers.

Mack had $2 million riding on the game, and he didn’t take the loss lying down. He had a message for Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott on how to get better results.

“Hey, Dak, Mattress Mack here. I just lost $2 million, but I’ve got some advice for you: get rid of that Sleep Number mattress and get a Tempur-Pedic. You’ll get much better results,” Mack said in an obvious shot at Prescott’s play and his Sleep Number partnership.

If there’s anyone who knows a thing or two about mattresses, it’s Mack (though I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s a Tempur-Pedic partner). But I’m not sure pot should be lecturing kettle when his own track record is shaky.

One thing we can all agree on is Prescott needed to play better. At least Mack is still rocking the quarterback’s jersey proudly.

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Mattress Mack bet $1.5 million on underdog TCU to upset Georgia in the CFP title game

Mattress Mack will always bet on Texas.

No name in Texas is more synonymous with sports betting than Jim McIngvale, aka Mattress Mack. So with another Texas sports team playing in a major championship, it should be no surprise that the Houston-area mattress mogul is back with another huge bet.

According to Action Network’s Darren Rovell, McIngvale placed a $1.5 million bet at DraftKings for TCU to beat Georgia in Monday’s College Football Playoff National Championship. Getting the Horned Frogs’ moneyline at +370 odds, Mattress Mack would win $5.55 million if they can pull of the upset.

Of course, those are longshot odds. Georgia has long been favored to win the national title and is currently favored by 12.5 points.

Mack often uses promotional mattress sales to fund his bets, but he should have plenty of dough to blow after winning a U.S. sports betting record $75 million on the Houston Astros’ World Series title. He also has a pending $2.5 million bet on University of Houston to win the men’s college basketball national championship.

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Mattress Mack needed a wheelbarrow to load $10 million of his World Series bets onto a jet

“This money is heavy!”

If you’ve ever wanted to know what it’s like to move $10 million of cold hard cash from one place to another, Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale has you covered.

The Houston-area furniture boss — and sports betting legend — had to travel, presumably home, with $10 million of his record $75 million payout from a combination of bets on the Houston Astros to win the World Series.

BetMGM caught it on camera from the moment a car dropped McIngvale and his money off at a tarmac where a jet awaited him.

He needed a wheelbarrow to move the cash from the car to the jet.

“This money is heavy!”

I don’t doubt that. I just hope McIngvale had a safe trip home.

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Cameras caught a dejected Mattress Mack in the stands amid the Phillies home run barrage

That feeling when you have $75 million on the line.

Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale has a lot riding on the result of the World Series.

The Houston-area mattress magnate can win a record $75 million payout on his combined bets for the Astros to win it all.

Those bets totaled $10 million of his own money, and while he won’t exactly be out that entire total because of the mattress promotions he runs to cover the expense, the potential payout is nothing to sneeze at.

So, as you can imagine, Mack wasn’t the happiest person in the stands when the Phillies started raining home runs from the skies of Philadelphia in Game 3 on Tuesday.

Cameras caught it all.

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Judging by the captions, the first video was recorded in the first inning when Bryce Harper hit an electrifying two-run shot. And the second video was in the fifth inning when Kyle Schwarber and Rhys Hoskins went back-to-back.

Four innings apart, and McIngvale’s body language was exactly the same.

He was not in the mood, and who can blame him? The Phillies won 7-0, going deep five times off Houston starter Lance McCullers Jr., who might have been tipping his pitches. Now they’re up 2-1 in the series with the next two games at home.

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Jim ‘Mattress Mack’ McIngvale is four wins from record $75 million payout on World Series bet

4 more wins.

If you know anything about Jim McIgnvale aka Mattress Mack, it’s that he sells mattresses. But if you know two things about him, it’s that he sells mattresses and uses the earnings from those sales to place astronomical amounts of money on sports bets.

Sometimes it works in his favor — like his 2020 bet on the Super Bowl — but mostly he just loses a lot. That includes the $3.25 million he bet on the Houston Astros to win last year’s World Series, which would’ve returned $35.6 million.

This year McIngvale has $10 million on the Astros, and he’s just four wins from winning $75 million after they swept the Yankees to advance to the World Series.

The only thing between him and what would be the largest recorded payout in legal sports betting history are the Philadelphia Phillies.

We wrote in May about the initial $3 million bet he placed on the Astros. But since then, he increased his stake by another $7 million.

Of course, a loss doesn’t actually mean McIngvale is out that much money. He uses promotional mattress sales as hedges for his bets, promising customers their money back if the team he bets on wins, which drives sales to cover the cost of his bet.

That’s particularly effective when the money is on a Houston-area team, where most of his customers are likely to also be fans and optimistic about their chances.

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