Who is Mattress Mack?

Why is Mattress Mack Famous?

Jim McIngvale may appear to be an unassuming local businessperson. He’s wealthy, he’s on TV hawking his products, and he’s well known in his local area. But on first glance, he does not seem to be a mogul or someone who would become famous nationwide. Jim McIngvale certainly does not strike you as the most famous sports bettor on Earth, one widely known by his nickname and business moniker – Mattress Mack.

Mattress Mack owns the Gallery Furniture chain of stores, which are headquartered in his adopted home of Houston, Texas. The store only has three locations, spread throughout metro-Houston. While each store is massive, Mattress Mack does not operate a coast-to-coast bedding empire.

Instead, Jim McIngvale rose to prominence by combining an age-old marketing tactic with the rise of regulated and accepted real money sports betting.

How Did Mattress Mack Make his Money?

Jim McIngvale was born in Mississippi in 1951 and graduated from North Texas University in Dallas. But he gained his fame in another Texas town, opening the first Gallery Furniture location in Houston in 1981. He became a staple of local television commercials, ending his advertisements with an enthusiastic and catchy “save you money!”

His rapid speaking style and obvious passion for sales turned his “save you money” into a jingle that any Houston area resident would know. As the jingle took off, so did sales at his furniture stores. It didn’t hurt that the wacky guy practically yelling at viewers through the TV would wear a mattress costume during the ads.

Though he only owns three stores, his company’s growth coincided with Houston’s explosion into the fourth largest city in America. Along the way, Mattress Mack became a very rich man.

How Did Mattress Mack Get His Name?

Wearing a mattress in commercials and screaming “save you money!” certainly made it easy to understand how Jim McIngvale’s Scottish last name got turned into the nickname “Mattress Mack.” However, outside of Houston, mattress Mack is known for two related reasons. First, his love of his hometown sports teams. Second, for his outlandishly large expenditures on sports betting.

How Does Mattress Mack Back His Promotions With Bets?

Local furniture stores have been tying promotions to local sports teams for decades. For Mattress Mack, his Gallery Furniture offered the “2022 Astros Win it All, Get it All” promo. Any customer of Gallery Furniture who spent over $3,000 on certain mattress sets would receive their purchase price back – in full – if the Astros won the 2022 World Series.

Mattress Mack is a large backer of all the local Houston sports teams. But by staking his company’s bottom-line on the back of the local team, Mack created a potential huge liability on his books. In the past, companies with similar promotions would seek out insurance on the chance the winning event occurred. Mack, however, takes an alternate tack on mitigating his company’s risk if it has to pay-off the promotion.

Instead, he hedges his bet….through massive wagers in the sports betting market. Though we’re not sure he reads our detailed reviews of the top sports betting sites, Mattress Mack certainly shops around for the best odds. Some reports also stated that Mattress Mack has also been shut out of the traditional insurance markets for these types of promotions.

In 2021, Mattress Mack placed a $3.35 million-dollar wagers that his Houston Astros would win that fall’s World Series. The promotion ran at the start of the baseball season, but the Astros were already considered a World Series competitor based on the preseason sports betting odds. By placing a futures wager, Mack was able to secure ten to one odds (10:1 or +1000) on his hometown baseball team willing the ‘Show. With potential winnings of $33.5 million plus the return of his original stake, had the Astros been successful, Mack would have received a $37 million payout.

But Mattress Mack did not stop there in 2021. After the Astros faltered out of the gates, the business and betting maven went back to the sportsbooks and wagered another $350,000. All told, had the Astros won the 2021 Fall Classic, Mack would have won some $40 million plus. Assuredly, this amount would have covered his liability on the promotion, no matter how many Houstonians upgraded their sleeping arrangements.

Though he did not win his 2021 Astros bet, when the ‘Stros took home the hardware in 2022, he cashed out approximately $75 million in winning wagers. And furniture buyers throughout the Houston area were able to sleep soundly on beds that were suddenly free. Either way, Mattress Mack came out on top.

What is Mattress Mack’s Net Worth?

Through shrewd investing, strong continued sales, and possibly some well-timed moneyline bets on his favorites, Mattress Mack has accumulated quite the nest egg. Because he has a better financial plan than stuffing money in his namesake product, Mack has ballooned his wealth to an estimated $310 million.

The wealth Mattress Mack has accumulated has allowed him to spend lavishly on his favorite causes – including sports betting. He’s not always a winner. When he wagered $4.5 million on the Cincinnati Bengals for last year’s Super Bowl, Mack set the (known/legal) record for largest single sports wager in history. Of course, the Bengals failed in their attempt to lift the Lombardi Trophy. So, even a man as wealthy, lucky, and possibly knowledgeable as Mattress Mack doesn’t get them all right. You may still want to look elsewhere for help building your next parlay bet.

Even though his alma mater is North Texas, Mack has become one of the University of Houston’s biggest sports boosters. With the rapid changes in the college sports landscape, Mack has taken a seven-figure stake in the Houston Cougars basketball team through Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) payments to the players. With the Cougars near the top of the NCAA basketball rankings, Mack placed a $1 million wager on Houston to cut down the nets as champions this year. At ten to one odds. Coincidentally, Mattress Mack could be cashing out his $10 million in winnings while watching the 2023 Final Four, which is being hosted in….Houston.