College Basketball

Mattress Mack bets $1 million on Houston Cougars to win March Madness

Updated Mar. 1, 2024 2:09 p.m. ET

In the world of sports betting, a million-dollar wager certainly catches people’s attention. Making such a bet probably sounds pretty glamorous, too – or perhaps crazy, depending on your point of view.

But in this day and age, these types of bets rarely occur in glamorous fashion. It’s not necessarily a high roller plopping a million in cash on a sportsbook counter.

Take the latest seven-figure play, for example: Late Tuesday night, Jim "Mattress Mack" McIngvale put $1 million on his hometown Houston Cougars in the March Madness championship odds market.

"It was at the first rest stop across the Texas-Louisiana border, three-quarters of a mile into Louisiana. A very glamourous location to bet legally online," McIngvale said, tongue firmly in cheek while discussing his major wager on Caesars Sports’ mobile app.

Go Time

Per usual, McIngvale has his big bet tied to a promotion at his furniture store. The $1 million play on Houston +750 would stand to profit $7.5 million, for a total payout of $8.5 million. Customers who purchase mattress sets of $4,000 or more will get those sets for free if the Cougars win the championship.

So Mattress Mack’s bet is a means to cover all those potentially free mattresses. And if Houston doesn’t win the title, Mack loses his million-dollar bet, but his store retains all the money from those mattress sales.

McIngvale could’ve gotten Houston at longer odds earlier in the season, but he took a wait-and-see approach until this week.

"We’ve been running the promotion for a couple of months. But this is Houston’s first year in the Big 12, so I was waiting to see what was gonna shake out before I bet," McIngvale said. "Then this week, Houston went to No. 1 in the rankings. The shorter the odds get, the more painful it gets."

They Like Big Bets And They Cannot Lie

Over the past two years or so, several of McIngvale’s big bets have been made at Caesars Sports. That was the case this time, as well, and the Houston wager led to a liability swing.

Last week, a Purdue championship was Caesars’ worst-case scenario in the March Madness odds market. But in the wake of Mattress Mack’s bet, Caesars Sports confirmed that Houston is now the largest NCAA Tournament liability.

"Houston has been well-backed all season," said Craig Mucklow, vice president of trading for Caesars Sports.

After McIngvale’s million-dollar play, Caesars moved Houston from the +750 third choice to the +600 second choice, behind only +475 favorite UConn. The Cougars jumped Purdue, which is now the +700 third choice.

McIngvale feels pretty good about his chances of cashing the bet and making a lot of his customers quite happy.

"I think Houston has a very good team that has a real shot," he said. "It’ll be a fun month of March, that’s for sure."

And perhaps a fun early April, as well, with the championship game set for April 8 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.

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.