Free Sofas for Sox Sweep

Oct. 29, 2007— -- The Boston Red Sox have won the World Series for the second time in the past four years — unbelievable to those who thought the Curse of the Bambino would never be broken.

In addition to bragging rights, many of their fans have won something else, thanks to a furniture store that made a big bet on the Red Sox at the beginning of the baseball season.

In April, Eliot Tatelman, the president of Jordan's Furniture, advertised a two-week promotion that offered free furniture if the Red Sox won the championship.

"Come on in now and purchase a sofa, sectional, dining table, a bed and a mattress, and if the Red Sox win the World Series this year, they'll be yours free," Tatelman said in a commercial promoting the deal.

Wendy and Ross Lyon ignored the threat of another curse and spent $5,300 dollars on two new sectional sofas at Jordan's. Now they will get all their money back, courtesy of Tatelman and Sox stars like Manny Ramirez and Josh Beckett.

"It's beautiful stuff, even if you have to pay for it, and we don't," Ross laughed.

"I do feel like I won the lottery," Wendy said.

The idea of having his furniture store boost support for the Red Sox, as well as Jordan's, was an all-around good situation for Tatelman.

"The idea of everyone rooting for the Red Sox ... and buying furniture, it's a win-win [situation]," Tatelman said.

But is it really a win for Tatelman and his business? Nearly 30,000 people bought furniture during the promotion, and are now entitled to a lot of money back. Tatelman wouldn't say how much but even the most conservative estimates put it at well over $15 million.

But Tatelman is a big fan, and many Red Sox faithful might say $15 million would be a small price to pay in return for another Red Sox World Series win. And Tatelman made sure that he was prepared, in case the team actually did earn the title of world champs once again.

"We had to buy the insurance. We could never cover this ourselves," he said. "This is what insurance companies are for, to take risks, and this was a risk."