MEMPHIS, Tenn. — These past few months, Tigers fever encompassed every part of Memphis through blue, fight songs and the opportunity for free furniture. But even though Kansas won the national title Monday night, Ashley Furniture Homestore was planning on holding up its end of the bargain.
In December, Ashley Furniture Homestore outlets in Southaven, Miss., Collierville and Jackson, Tenn., held a promotion offering refunds if the University of Memphis won the NCAA men’s basketball championship.
Chad Spencer, co-owner of the three Ashley Homestores, said he got the idea from a furniture store in Boston that offered the same kind of promotion last year if the Red Sox won the World Series.
Spencer ran the promotion for two weekends, one in December and one in February.
“The first was really, really good,” Spencer said. “But the second was like wow. It was as though the stars aligned. We were No. 1, and everyone was pumped.”
Spencer said thousands of shoppers came out for the promotion, making the check out line a three-hour wait.
“It was so busy, I started checking people out,” he said. “But you know, no one said a cross word to me. They knew we were doing everything we could, and they understood.”
Tennessee Attorney General Robert E. Cooper, Jr. issued an opinion on March 19 saying the promotion was not legal because it was a form of gambling, and gambling is illegal in Tennessee.
“Certainly there is a degree of chance involved in speculating whether a particular team will win the NCAA tournament,” the document stated. “Therefore, making a partial or full rebate of a required purchase price or financing arrangements contingent upon the chance that a particular team will win a sporting event would violate the prohibition against ‘gambling’ and conducting ‘a lottery.’”
The Gambling Clinic at The U of M issued a statement Monday that said the promotion was not a form of gambling.
“Based on the reading and research we have done, gambling follows the definition of betting money or goods on a game or event where the outcome is unknown,” said Sandra Watson, clinic manager for the Gambling Clinic. ” And it is a game of chance where a person can either win or lose.”
Watson said the promotion did not fit into the second category of the definition because even though the Tigers lost, the consumers still get to keep their goods.
Spencer said the promotion was not something he went into halfway.
Spencer followed the rules by acquiring a contract with The U of M to use its trademark, he also received approval from the NCAA. After that, an attorney for Ashley Homestore sent the promotion to the secretary of state who said it was not a lottery.
If the Tigers had won, Spencer said they had every intention of following-through with the rebates.
“This wasn’t something I went into half-flippantly,” he said. “Our company does what’s right and my No. 1 concern is Memphis. We want to honor and bless them.”