Newsletter

You may not care about baseball’s World Series, but this MLB champ deserves your research — Rilakkuma Sports

Author | Qiao Feng

The MLB World Series, the highest-level event in professional baseball, will start this weekend between the Houston Astros and the Philadelphia Phillies. Even baseball fans can pay attention to Jim McIngvale.

Jim McIngvale is a hardcore of the Astros. Before the current owner of the NBA Rockets, Fertitta, he also had an idea of ​​​​taking a stake in the Rockets. If the Astros win, Jim McIngvale will recoup about $75 million, according to The Action Network, which would be the largest “legitimate win” in sports betting history. The reason for emphasizing legality is that many states in the United States have gradually legalized sports betting in recent years.

Self-made furniture merchant

Jim McIngvale is the founder of Houston-based furniture maker Gallery Furniture, which he and his wife Linda started with $5,000 in 1981 and soon turned it into one of the largest furniture dealers in the Houston area. In 1983, when the company faced financial difficulties, McIngvale spent the remaining $10,000 on television commercials. During the commercial shooting was not smooth, McIngvale chose to go into battle in person. In the limited advertising time, the improvised and fast-paced recording made a unique marketing advertisement. Since then, McIngvale has gone viral and has become a local “community icon”, earning the nickname “Mattress Mack”, and the company’s sales have grown significantly.

Besides selling furniture, he has other hobbies. In 1992, McIngvale and his wife were executive producers on the Chuck Norris film Sidekies; in 2002, he co-wrote Always Think Big (Always Think Big) with Thomas Duening and John Ivancevich. There is a big picture) book, which chronicles the ups and downs of McIngvale’s entrepreneurial career.

In 2014, Furniture World Magazine reported that McIngvale’s store had sales of about $150 million a year and became the nation’s top seller of furniture per square foot, also known as the “king of floor space.” As of 2022, McIngvale is worth a whopping $300 million, according to CelebrityNetWorth.com.

You may not care about baseball's World Series, but this MLB champ deserves your research

A gambling king and a marketing genius

Jim McIngvale’s real fascination with big betting dates back to 2015. Every year in the Super Bowl, businessmen in the United States are willing to use hot spots for marketing. That year’s matchup was between the Seattle Seahawks and the Denver Broncos. After repeated analysis and confirmation with the two employees, they believed that Peyton Manning’s team It is impossible to lose, so the marketing campaign designed is – Seahawk wins the game and refunds the whole money. Jim McIngvale estimated at the time that the 10-day sale would sell at most two or three million dollars in merchandise. As a result, they sold $9 million in product and had to close early on Super Bowl day with nearly all the furniture sold out.

That year, Jim McIngvale didn’t use gambling as a risk hedging, and decided that he had a good chance of winning. “In the first round, Manning had the ball and I thought, ‘It’s over,’ my wife is definitely going to divorce me,” Jim McIngvale recalled.

The Seahawks eventually won, and Jim McIngvale lost $9 million in product, but his reputation and branding grew, and he got gaming marketing ideas.

You may not care about baseball's World Series, but this MLB champ deserves your research

In 2017, the hometown Astros entered the World Series for the second time in 12 years, against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Unable to miss the opportunity, Jim McIngvale came up with the same refund marketing method – the Astros won the championship and refunded the full amount, but this time he used gambling hedges.

The Astros narrowly beat the Dodgers in seven games and won their first championship in franchise history. According to ESPN, Jim McIngvale returned $13 million in sales to customers. He did not disclose how much his accumulated betting amount was, but only revealed that because the betting agencies did not accept oversized bets, he could only go to every casino in the casino to bet, each with more than 1 million US dollars, and the odds were about 3 to 2 at that time. very good.”

Since then, huge betting marketing has become his label. Since then, in 2019 and 2021, the Astros have entered the World Series twice. Jim McIngvale has wagered millions of dollars, but the team failed to win the championship as he hoped. He also started eyeing other events, such as this year’s March Madness, where he bet $5.5 million on the University of Kansas and ended up winning him $10.4 million.

You may not care about baseball's World Series, but this MLB champ deserves your research

▲ 2019 to present, Jim McIngvale’s main betting situation.

For the 2022 World Series, Gallery Furniture customers will still be able to enjoy the added benefit of a Mattress Mike bet—a double cashback if the Astros win the World Series. For example, a purchase of $5,000 worth of merchandise will ultimately return customers up to $10,000 in cash.

Data is the best illustration. In 2019, Gallery Furniture had revenue of $164 million, and sales in 2021 increased by about 40% to more than $230 million. “These campaigns do bring in high net worth users who spend more, are wealthier and have more credibility,” Jim McIngvale said.

You may not care about baseball's World Series, but this MLB champ deserves your research

▲ The home appliance brand Vantage also used a similar marketing strategy during the 2018 World Cup.

McIngvale has indeed embarked on a new business road of sports betting + marketing. A win-win situation binds “Mattress Mike” and his customers closely. Behind the exciting sports events, there are constantly increasing bets and customers’ pursuit. Free furniture. Regardless of the outcome of the game, the MLB gambler is the winner.

Disclaimer: This article was originally created by Rilakkuma Sports, please indicate when reprintingwww.lanxiongsports.com

You may not care about baseball's World Series, but this MLB champ deserves your research

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Trending