Jim McIngvale, the 71-year-old Houston furniture entrepreneur and renowned gambler known as "Mattress Mack," is launching his own sports betting and news site named Gallerysports.com.
McIngvale stated the website will be "your one-stop shop for everything in Texas and Louisiana sports."
The Gallery Sports website will is also tied to his furniture store Gallery Furniture as well.
McIngvale commented: "I’m a promoter. I got a lot of wild and crazy ideas, and a lot of them are going to flop, but a few will be a home run.
"We expect to make money selling ads eventually but it’ll be a longhorn pull for six months to a year."
During the Super Bowl last year, he offered customers who bought a $3,000 mattress or recliner before kickoff a full refund if the Bengals won, although the Bengals lost, he sold $20m worth of furniture.
Mack’s promotions and sports bets have helped him grow his business, which he started with his wife, Linda, in 1981.
Mack also plans to start Gallery Gaming, which will have a primary focus on sports betting as well but with a different spin. The site will publish odds, analysis and stories about his own personal bets, but the site won't sell odds.
McIngvale continued: "I don’t believe in selling picks; it puts people in bad positions." The sites will cover Texas and Louisiana sports at first but he hopes to expand to national and global coverage in the future.
He added: "I'm betting on the fact that I know people love sports, and one of the things I like is that sports are the great unifier. No matter if you're right-wing, left-wing, middle-wing, whatever, everybody unites. It's a good thing for our current divisive times."
The second site Gallery Gaming has yet to announce an official launch date.
