Matress Mack (who is like royalty here in Houston) gives his second annual $1 million bag of money to its mens basketball team. If you support NIL, this is what you asked for and what we're competing against.
Univ of Houston = $1 million NIL for Men's Basketball
- Thread starter AdventureHasAName
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Matress Mack (who is like royalty here in Houston) gives his second annual $1 million bag of money to its mens basketball team. If you support NIL, this is what you asked for and what we're competing against.
MyPillow Mike is selling company assets on eBay so at least he probably won’t be dropping a bag for the Gophers.
Not “like Royalty” he IS royalty and the man is a huge philanthropist…
I'd not call NIL "philanthropy" any more than I'd call major-league owners paying player contracts philanthropy, but sure, if he donates to more important causes and charities, good for him.
Mattress Mike does like to place a wager or two besides helping people.
He reportedly put down $1.5 mil on TCU when they played Georgia for the National Championship .
He placed $10 mil in bets on the Astros to win the World Series and came out with $75 Mil
He also laid down a $1 mil bet at 10-1 betting the University of Houston would win the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship
Since 2021
- 1 Million on Houston to win 2021 March Madness (Loss)
- $4 Million on Essential Quality to win 2021 Kentucky Derby (Loss)
- $6.2 Million on Alabama to win 2022 National Championship (Loss)
- $700k on Tennessee Titans to win Super Bowl LVI (Loss)
- $2 Million on New England Patriots to win Super Bowl LVI (Loss)
- Won $15 Million on Kansas Jayhawks to win 2022 March Madness
- Won $75 Million on Houston Astros to win 2022 World Series
He does. He has his hand in just about every charity in Houston.
I could give a rat’s a$$ about his NIL contributions….I’m talking about this, just SOME of his causes:
Philanthropy
Mack is also well-known for his philanthropy. He has donated millions of dollars to various charities, and he frequently hosts events and fundraisers to raise money for local schools and churches.Jim allowed his stores to be used as shelters for people during Hurricane Harvey’s devastation in August 2017.
When Tropical Storm Imelda flooded much of Houston in 2019, he once again allowed Gallery Furniture locations to be used as shelters and locations for free meal services.
During the Texas Power Crisis and Hurricane Ida in 2021, Jim opened his stores to serve as shelters, sources of meals, and other emergency amenities not only in Texas, but also in Louisiana.
The list goes on. Some seven months after Harvey hit, McIngvale donated $800,000 to assist victims of the hurricane. Of all things, he once saved a manatee. He worked with Presidents Clinton and Bush 41 to help raise about $15 million for the Bush-Clinton Tsunami Fund. For his efforts to help people during Hurricane Harvey he was honored as the recipient of the McLane Leadership in Business Award, which recognizes “outstanding contributions in the area of business, public service, or community service at the national level.”
Interesting. I wonder if the insider trading concept comes into play with NIL. Let’s say hypothetically he puts down a long term bet and then buys a top tier portal roster for the team he bet on the next day…
Or people give nil money team does well and they start fixing games?
I don’t think that would be illegal. I think Vegas has long term odds so skewed in their favor I don’t know if they are at risk. I also think they could start calling the amount one could bet.
No - that would always have been illegal with no gray area. I’m suggesting something different.
NIL could arguably have the potential to be a “market maker”. Especially in a sport like basketball. Extreme example to demonstrate point: Suppose John Doe places a long term bet on a bad Binghamton to win the American East. Places $2m bet with favorable odds. Then forks over $2m to the Binghamton NIL collective to go buy some stud transfers for the year. $2 million would buy a heck of an American east roster. John Doe’s chances of cashing out on his bet would sky rocket. That would be text book insider trading, yes?
Are there long term bet options on the small conference teams other than winning the whole thing? That’s where the “arbitrage” would be most notable…
i cant see vegas taking a bet or even making odds. i wouldnt there is enough demand.
RU has a number of wealthy alum and supporters. (Mattress Mack is not a UH alum.) We just need someone with the same unbridled passion.
Inside information and insider trading aren’t the same. If it was a crime to bet based on inside information everybody working in the barns at a racetrack would already be in jail.
There is proprietary overlap. A ton of it. There are plenty of hedge fund like products on the market that incorporate betting. I’m not sure exactly how it works but it exists.
Also - this would be different from what your describing. The better would knowingly be creating the inside info purposefully to improve their odds on the bet.
Not the hotel sportsbooks. What about the hard core bookies. I read the Pete Rose book a long time ago and it seemed like there are odds for just about everything… I hear what your saying though in terms of what those odds would be since betting volume would be needed on both sides for the house to profit.