yahoo - 3/30/2026 8:15:44 PM - GMT (+2 )
The Connecticut men’s and women’s basketball teams each are one victory away from the championship game of the NCAA Tournament, and that could be very expensive for a furniture store, an insurance company or both.
Jordan’s Furniture, a company based in Massachusetts, will be on the hook for $50 million if both win their first games of the Final Four and advance to the championship games, according Eliot Tatelman, the former CEO whose sons run the company.
The men’s team plays Illinois Saturday, April 4 and the women’s team plays the winner of the Elite Eight game between South Carolina and TCU.
"We have insurance," Tatelman told USA TODAY Sports. "We want them to win."
The customers and the men's team had a close call Sunday, when UConn beat Duke on Braylon Mullins' last-second, 35-footer.
Jordan’s Furniture created the financial risk with the following promotion: customers could buy as much furniture and mattresses as they wanted from Jan. 20 to March 1, according to the company’s website. Jordan’s has pledged to reimburse those customers if the Huskies reached the Final Four and then advance to the championship game.
One of the promotional commercials features Tatelman and Huskies basketball star Sarah Strong.
Red Sox delivered for customersTatelman, who remains the face of the company, said Jordan’s Furniture has eight stores, including two in Storrs, Connecticut, home of the Huskies. He said Jordan’s held a similar promotion in 2007, when the company became the official furniture store of the Boston Red Sox.
"We said, 'Come into Jordan's and buy a sofa, a bed, a mattress, a dining room table,’" Tatelman said. "And if the Red Sox win the World Series, it'll all be free.’"
The Red Sox swept the Colorado Rockies in the World Series, and Tatelman said Jordan’s returned $35 million to its customers without ending up in bankruptcy.
"I bought insurance for it," he said cheerfully.
Would Warren Buffet approve?Tatelman, 79, said he’s been in the business for 65 years and his grandfather started the store. It’s now owned by Berkshire Hathaway, an American holding company founded by the late Warren Buffett.
When Jordan's was sold to Berkshire Hathaway in 1999, Jordan’s put its annual revenue at about $250 million, according to Bloomberg News.
Although Tatelman did not provide annual sales figures – they're not public knowledge, he explained – he did provide details about the stores.
One features an indoor ropes course. Another has two Max 3D theaters. In yet another, Boston is duplicated by 25 million jelly beans. Boston. Beantown. Get it?
Coming soon: Big screen TVs for the Final Four games.
In essence, are customers wagering with furniture purchases?
"This is not gambling," Tatelman said. "You're buying furniture at a good deal and you're getting something for it.''
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: UConn men's, women's basketball could cost furniture store millions
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