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Connecticut basketball fans were asking one big question after the Huskie men’s comeback win over Duke on Sunday night: How are the folks at Jordan’s Furniture feeling right now?
The New England furniture store ran a special promotion earlier this year where anyone who purchased furniture between Jan. 20 and March 1 would not have to pay for it if the UConn men’s and women’s basketball teams reached their respective national championship games.
Both teams are now one win away from the national title games after the women downed Notre Dame earlier on Sunday and the men defeated Duke in comeback fashion the same day.
“You think the Jordan’s furniture guy is sweating yet?” one social media user wrote.
“All I know is the Jordan’s Furniture guy is having a hell of a stressful week ahead,” another person posted.
“Jordan’s Furniture is never gonna get promotion insurance again,” a third person joked.
Several UConn players had taken part in advertising for the wild promotion, with men’s guard Silas Demary Jr. and women’s forward Sarah Strong and guard Caroline Ducharme being featured in ads, along with retired company CEO Eliot Tatelman.
“Yes, for me, that gives me something else to play for, something added to play for,” Demary told the Hartford Courant in February. “If we both win, all these people get free furniture. That’s something I want to do and be a part of.”
The UConn promotion is not the first time the company has made a gamble like this, with a similar deal being advertised in 2007, when the retailer offered that any furniture purchased in the summer would be free if the Red Sox won the World Series.
The Sox beat the Rockies in four games to capture their second World Series title since 1918 that fall and more than 25,000 people ended up with free furniture as a result, the Hartford Courant reported.
Insurance covered the payout for the 2007 promotion, which is believed to have been roughly $30 million, and Jordan’s senior vice president of marketing Linda SanGiacomo told the outlet that the publicity and increased sales make it worth the risks that come with it.
“Jordan’s takes out insurance policies to mitigate risk while maintaining engagement,” she said. “For the UConn campaign, we purchased insurance at an estimated sales level so that we can deliver on our commitments when they win. As a company we are excitedly rooting for the UConn men’s and women’s teams. We want both the teams to make it to the finals and we want to give away free furniture to our great customers.”
The UConn women’s team will face the winner of South Carolina and TCU on Friday to try to punch their ticket to the national title game and do their part on the free furniture front.
The UConn men’s team faces Illinois on Saturday for its shot to reach the national championship game and potentially seal the deal for Jordan’s Furniture’s customers.
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