A business did this in Boston as well last year.

Did they go bankrupt?

It happens in basically every city every year. The thing is, you only hear about it if either the team actually does win or somebody sees it mentions it on a blog.

These type of promotions are typically insured.

I'm assuming these guys have insurance, but it'd be interesting to see how this risk is rated by the insurers and re-insurers.

Vegas has the Cubs at 15-1 to win the Series. They might not be able to get it all down at one sportsbook, but this is probably the cheapest way to insure yourself if you are the furniture store.

Vegas has the Cubs at 15-1 to win the Series. They might not be able to get it all down at one sportsbook, but this is probably the cheapest way to insure yourself if you are the furniture store.

Given the numbers tossed around in the aftermath of the Jordan's Furniture deal in Boston last year, I'd say this is almost certainly correct. I think Jordan's paid something close to 50% of the total insured value as a premium last year.

Jordan's, of course, was a much larger company, with a larger promotion, than this gameroom store, though. The amount they would have had to bet probably would have swung the line a decent amount. They allegedly had to cover about $20 million in transactions. I don't think there are many sportsbooks that will let you put down $7 million at 3 to 1. I could be wrong, of course, but it seems like that might be more complicated than finding an insurance agent.

Gilmartin would have insured the contest for 30 percent of the value of all the furniture given away. Using the conservative $15 million prize tally, that means the insurance would have cost Jordan's $4.5 million.

That's from an article here about the Red Sox promotion.

I'd just let it ride. That is not a Championship team.

"all of Chicagoland"?

I'm guessing this chain has no stores on the South Side.

A business did this in Boston as well last year.

Did they go bankrupt?

No. They are owned by Berkshire Hathaway. It's not known whether BH insured the promotion, but they certainly had the money to do it.

And the free publicity I saw on it can be deducted from the company's cost.

If the Cubs actually won in 2008, the publicity for this stunt could be staggering...

I'd imagine they didn't use a bookie, simply because of the legal issues surrounding sports gambling. The insurers at Lloyd's would probably underwrite it - they can easily handle large numbers, and could figure out a price at which it made sense for them to do it.

A premium of 30+% of the aggregate limit is pretty damn high, and means that they probably lost money on the sale- this is a bad time to be in the furniture business, and margins were about as bad then as they are now. Of course, I'm sure they had a lot of business because of the promotion before and after the promotional period (and especially after the Sox won last year - I bet they made people come into their stores to pick up the checks - hellllo money burning a hole in people's pockets!).

Two great stories about this:

A chicken chain restraunt in the Houston area said they'd give free meals to anyone with a ticket stub to a Rockets game where they scored at least 135 points. The team had been around for 8 years, and had done it once. Seems like a good idea, right?

Home opener (of course). Sell out crowd (naturally). The Rockets pull away big and are blowing them out, putting the subs in. The PA guy reminds the crowd of the chicken shack offer. The fans start shouting "We want chicken! We want chicken!" The players, not about to let the fans down, rachet it up to a shoot-out pace. The coach gets in the excitement, putting the starters back in. At his point (this is my favorite part), the crowd starts shouting "[Coach} wants chicken! [Coach] wants chicken!"

With 51 seconds left, one player sank the chicken-winning basket. The place went nuts.

Second story:

About a decade ago, an electronics store in KC said they'd let any/all products sold for $400 or more dollars one weekend be kept for free -- if the Chiefs shutout the opposing San Diego Chargers in their next game.

It was the Erik Kramer era Chargers. At one point, late in the game, the Chargers were driving. They hadn't scored, but they had the ball inside the KC 5, first down, goal to go. Kramer fumbled for a turnover. KC had their shutout. The people had free electronic stuff - one guy apparently bought the most expensive item in the store, for nothin'.

That Chargers/KC promotion sounds like a freeroll, depending on return policies. I buy something really expensive, but keep it unopened in the box. If the event happens I keep it for free and it's all mine. If not, I return it for a full refund, since it's only a few days and is still brand new and unopened.

A chicken chain restraunt in the Houston area said they'd give free meals to anyone with a ticket stub to a Rockets game where they scored at least 135 points. The team had been around for 8 years, and had done it once. Seems like a good idea, right?

Home opener (of course). Sell out crowd (naturally). The Rockets pull away big and are blowing them out, putting the subs in. The PA guy reminds the crowd of the chicken shack offer. The fans start shouting "We want chicken! We want chicken!" The players, not about to let the fans down, rachet it up to a shoot-out pace. The coach gets in the excitement, putting the starters back in. At his point (this is my favorite part), the crowd starts shouting "[Coach} wants chicken! [Coach] wants chicken!"

With 51 seconds left, one player sank the chicken-winning basket. The place went nuts.

Houston 139, New York Nets 87, October 18, 1978. Mike Dunleavy hit the Ron's Chicken-winning shot.

God, I love the Internet...