Drake loses $1 million in Super Bowl bet: ‘Drake Curse’ strikes again

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The dreaded ‘Drake Curse’ was visited upon Patriots fans Sunday night after Drake revealed he had placed a $1-million wager on New England to win Super Bowl 60.

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Ahead of the big game, which New England lost to the Seattle Seahawks 29-13, the Toronto rapper announced in an Instagram post that he was gambling on Pats quarterback Drake Maye to steer the team to its first Vince Lombardi trophy since 2019.

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“Bet against me if you dare,” Drake shared, uploading a picture of his bet that would have paid him $2,950,000 if New England had won.

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Almost immediately, fans took to the comments to cite the ‘Drake Curse’ theory as proof the Patriots were destined to lose.

“Drake you my guy, but holy you’re cursed when it comes to betting sports. I know every single time to take the opposite of whoever you think is going to win, that’s how bad it is,” one person wrote.

“Drake betting a million on the Patriots is the most cursed thing that could happen to New England right now,” another devotee added before kickoff. “The man has literally ended careers and dynasties with his support. Every team he publicly backs finds a way to collapse in the most spectacular fashion possible … The ‘Drake Curse’ operates on a level that defies statistical probability and at this point Vegas should factor it into their lines.”

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Seeing Drake throw his support behind New England led several speculators to plunk their money on Seattle.

“Betting against Drake feels like free money,” one person said, with another adding, “I feel safer about my Seahawks bet now.”

The ‘Drake Curse’ explained

Talk of a “curse” has been bubbling for years after the lyricist was blamed for Serena Williams’ loss to an unranked player at the 2015 U.S. Open. But the hex took a strong foothold in 2019 when Drake showed up during Game 4 of the NHL playoffs between Toronto and the Boston Bruins in Maple Leafs gear and the Leafs lost 6-4.

That same year, after the rhymester took a photo with Paris Saint-Germain’s Layvin Kurzawa, he was blamed for the soccer club’s 5-1 rout at the hands of Lille. As a result, Italy’s AS Roma banned its players from taking selfies with the five-time Grammy winner until after their season ended.

During the 2022 World Cup, soccer fans blamed the “curse” for Belgium’s defeat of Team Canada.

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“We all know the reason,” one person wrote alongside a series of laughing-crying emojis and a pic of Drake posing alongside Canadian left-back Alphonso Davies.

ESPN noted that Canada was the first World Cup team since 1978 to attempt at least 20 shots and a penalty kick and not score a goal.

“Alphonso Davies didn’t listen to the gods,” one fan tweeted after the match. “Drake’s curse is real.”

During that same tournament, he saw another million dollars disappear from his bank account after he fumbled his wager for the World Cup Final.

There were more notable losses. In July 2024, he lost $300,000 when he bet the Canadian Men’s National Soccer Team would emerge victorious against the Lionel Messi-led Argentina National Football Team in their Copa debut.

The month before, the wordsmith put $500,000 on the Edmonton Oilers to win the Stanley Cup. But Drake saw that money vanish when the Panthers won Game 7, 2-1.

Last spring, the emcee went with his heart and bet big on the Maple Leafs to beat the Florida Panthers in the team’s second-round series.

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After Toronto was thumped 6-1, the entertainer tried to fault fellow pop star Justin Bieber, who was in the crowd to witness the drubbing in person.

But “curse” talk continued unabated. During the Blue Jays’ World Series campaign, the musician was blamed when Toronto fell to the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 7.

Drake was accused of reviving the “curse” when he trolled Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani following the Blue Jays’ Game 5 World Series win as the team headed back to Toronto with a 3-2 series lead.

After Dodgers catcher Will Smith belted a series-winning homer over the left-field wall, one fan declared, “The Drake Curse is real and it never misses.”

What has Drake said about the ‘curse’?

The Hotline Bling hitmaker is aware that there is chatter that he’s a jinx for sports teams. After all, he used it to doom Philadelphia in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semi-finals back in 2019 by wearing a pair of 76ers shorts when they lost to the Toronto Raptors.

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In a mock interview posted to Instagram Faux last year in which he answered the question, “How Do You Feel About the Drake Curse?” he said, “I feel like I don’t play sports … if I could get out there and win for all your favourite teams, I would.”

The God’s Plan rapper also insisted that his support wasn’t bad luck, pointing to his constant presence during the Raptors’ NBA Championship run back in 2019.

“The ‘Drake Curse’ is funny to me,” he said. “First of all, the Toronto Raptors are NBA champions. If there was a ‘Drake Curse,’ Kawhi (Leonard) would’ve never hit that shot, we would’ve never beat the (Golden State) Warriors. There is no ‘Drake Curse,’ but it’s funny, though.”

However, in that same interview, Drake admitted he’s a “flawed sports bettor.”

“I will not deny that. That’s not my gift. I’ll let everybody roll with it,” Drizzy said. “I’m sure if you’re a ‘Drake Curse’ believer, there will be plenty more content in the future for you to confirm your theories because my slips do not cash out. But one day I’m gonna have a parlay that’s insane and then everybody is going to be on quiet mode.”

mdaniell@postmedia.com

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