By Steve Moran

I am not a huge sports fan, but I am totally intrigued by anyone willing to bet millions of dollars on who will win the World Series months before the game takes place. I assume they are …

  • Fixing the game
  • Stupidly rich
  • Or brilliant

Brilliant is perhaps what Jim McInglvale is. Known as Mattress Mack, he is famous for betting millions of dollars on sports. In 2022 he bet $10 million that the Houston Astros would win the World Series at around 10-to-1 odds. When they won he collected $75 million.

Not Crazy

He is not crazy but brilliant. He owns Gallery Furniture and uses these bets to promote the sale of mattresses. He is doing it again for 2023. Here is the deal:

 

 

It turns out that he wins whether they win or lose. If the team wins, he has millions of dollars of refunds he is obligated to pay out. If the team loses, he has millions of dollars of mattress sales that cover the loss. The free publicity is worth way more than the cost of the bet.

Brookdale

Imagine for a moment that Brookdale did the same thing. Placed a big bet on a professional sports team then offered to refund 100% of the monthly fees for new move-ins during the promotional period. Here is what it would do for them:

  • First it would simply be fun and fun attract people. It would attract prospects and team members. It would also make working for Brookdale super cool. Who would not want to work for a company that would do something this crazy fun?
  • It would generate millions in free publicity, as it has done for Mattress Mack and Gallery Furniture.
  • It would attract new residents and give them a serious marketing edge, since it would mean a real possibility of people saving thousands of dollars on their entrance fee.

Brookdale and a few other senior living organizations are large enough to pull this off, and it would be a positive.

Brookdale has so much untapped potential to change the face of senior living. I can help. I am still waiting for my invite to be on the board, though not holding my breath. The reason to put me on the board?

To move the company to a position of leading the occupancy stats rather than lagging them.