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Superstitious Panthers fans have reason to rejoice after rap icon Drake laid his bet for the Stanley Cup Finals.
By Julia Postell
June 7, 2024
Drake attends a game between the Houston Rockets and the Cleveland Cavaliers on March 16, 2024 in Houston, Texas.Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images
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Renowned for his record-breaking albums and chart-topping hits, Drake has a profound influence on the global hip hop industry. However, his dominance in music doesn't quite extend to his sports predictions.
Drake's history of high-profile bets on the losing team has spawned a notorious superstition known as the "Drake curse." As the lore goes, the rapper’s blessing amounts to a death knell, whether he's betting on an Ultimate Fighting Championship bout, an NFL game, or an amateur croquet match.
So, beware Edmonton Oilers. Drake may have sealed your demise at the claws of the Florida Panthers.
In an Instagram post on Wednesday night, Aubrey Graham, AKA Drake, shared a screenshot of his bet against the Panthers in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals against the Oilers.The teams face off on the Panthers' home ice in Sunrise on Saturday night at 8 p.m.
Drake's reported stake in the game is $500,000, with the opportunity to win $1,025,000 if the Oilers come out with a victory. The bet comes as no surprise as Drake is a proud Canadian, born in Toronto.
Returning to the Finals after losing to the Las Vegas Golden Knights last year, the Panthers are favored to win the championship and take home the Stanley Cup trophy for the first time in the franchise's 31-year history. The team defeated the New York Rangers last week 4-2 in the Eastern Conference series to earn a spot in the Finals.
Joked about in sports-betting circles, the Drake curse has become a perennial topic of discussion after the rapper lays a big bet. Sports fans often express dread when Drake roots for their beloved team, playing into the superstition surrounding the curse.
The rapper has a long history of publicizing his bets online, only to see the team or athlete he supports come up short in the end.
In March, Drake reportedly lost a boxing bet of $615,000 on Francis Ngannou, missing out on a nearly $2 million payout when Anthony Joshua won in a second-round knockout of the dramatic fight.The hip-hop icon then posted a losing $565,000 wager on Tyson Fury in a bout againstOleksandr Usyk in May. (Not all of Drake's bets have ended poorly, to be fair. He is said to have laid a winning wager on the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVIII, for instance.)
This weekend, we'll find out whether the curse of Drake holds true.
But with Carter Verhaeghe and Aleksander Barkov firing on all cylinders, and the Panthers' defense on point, the team likely won't be banking on mystical forces to secure their first Stanley Cup.
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