Ahead of Super Bowl LV and a potentially instant classic showdown between the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, DFS and sportsbook operator DraftKings has taken a staggering $3.46m wager from Texan businessman Jim ‘Mattress Mack’ McIngvale.
The Houston-based furniture retailer bet on Tampa Bay at +3.5 after flying into Colorado last night, making the epic multi-million dollar bet from Colorado Springs Airport on his mobile device. It marks, commented DraftKings, one of the largest single wagers in Super Bowl history.
Outlining the rationale behind the mega wager, McIngvale said: “Tampa Bay is loaded with talent on both sides of the ball and led by the greatest football player of all time in Tom Brady, so I’m betting big on the Bucs who have overcome tough matchups throughout this postseason.
“The NFL has only seen eight instances of back-to-back champions and none in the past 16 years, so I like my chances going into Super Bowl LV for this trend to continue. DraftKings has been amazing; providing a safe, legal and fantastic customer experience.”
Johnny Avello, Director of Race and Bookmaking Operations at DraftKings, said on accepting the wager: “Mack has been a great customer and is someone we have history with after taking his sizeable wager on the Astros to win the World Series a couple seasons ago.
“For Super Bowl LV, Mack is handicapping the game out of pure belief that the Buccaneers can either win or at least cover the spread. We are not strangers to taking significant action, particularly on one of the biggest sports events in the country. Looking at the way we have booked the Super Bowl so far, bettors are laying -3 on the Chiefs and taking the Buccaneers at +3.5 as fans try to get the best possible line.”
Mattress Mack’s wager comes hot on the heels of new research published by the American Gaming Association (AGA) this week indicating that 23.2 million Americans plan to bet a total of $4.3bn on this weekend’s Super Bowl LV. Among Super Bowl bettors, a record 7.6 million will bet with online sportsbooks this year, up 63% year-on-year.
Since last year’s game, 36 million more American adults have gained the opportunity to safely bet in legal markets in their home state with seven new jurisdictions now live: Colorado, Illinois, Michigan, Montana, Tennessee, Virginia, and Washington DC.
