Key Takeaways
- Rapper Drake has reportedly wagered nearly $37 million across publicly disclosed sports bets.
- Drake pulled off a staggering $8.42 million comeback in 2023 — but has since fallen back into the red.
- Out of 84 tracked crypto wagers, Drake has won just 30 times.
For years, Drake’s sports bets have become almost as closely watched as his music releases.
Whether it’s backing UFC champions or wagering seven figures on NFL games, the famed Canadian rapper has developed a reputation as one of the world’s most controversial celebrity gamblers.
Along the way, he has also become the face of the internet’s infamous “Drake Curse,” a theory that teams and athletes he publicly supports are destined to lose.
Yet the numbers behind Drake’s betting record tell a story far more dramatic than a simple win-loss record.
According to data compiled by TheDrakeCurse.com, Drake has wagered nearly $37 million across publicly disclosed sports bets since February 2022.
While he currently sits at a net loss of $786,072, that figure hides one of the wildest swings seen in celebrity gambling.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational and entertainment purposes only. It does not offer financial or betting advice.
From Early Success to a Multi-Million Dollar Downturn
Drake’s betting record was volatile from the start.
While he landed several early wins, including profitable wagers on UFC fights, a series of costly defeats quickly overshadowed those gains.
The most painful setback came in November 2022 when Drake placed a $1.595 million wager on UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya to defeat longtime rival Alex Pereira at UFC 281.
Adesanya entered the fight as the favorite and appeared on course to win. However, Pereira staged a dramatic late comeback and stopped the champion in the fifth round.
The defeat handed Drake the biggest losing wager of his publicly tracked betting career so far, losing $2 million.
Just over a month later, another high-profile loss followed.
Drake famously backed Argentina to defeat France within 90 minutes in the 2022 World Cup final. While Lionel Messi’s side ultimately lifted the trophy, the match ended in a tie at the end of regulation time.
Combined with a string of other unsuccessful wagers, the losses left Drake facing a $3.84 million downturn by the end of 2022.
2023: Drake’s Sports Betting Comeback That Changed Everything
Throughout 2023, Drake completed a wagering rally that turned his losses into a multi-million-dollar profit.
One of the most successful came at UFC 285, when Drake wagered $250,000 on Jon Jones to submit Ciryl Gane. Jones finished the fight in the opening round, generating a $1.45 million profit.
Weeks later, Drake banked another $1.44 million by correctly backing Israel Adesanya to knock out Alex Pereira in their rematch.
Following on with his momentum, a string of NFL wins involving the Kansas City Chiefs delivered some of the largest returns of his betting career.
Successful wagers on the Chiefs against the Cincinnati Bengals, Philadelphia Eagles, and San Francisco 49ers generated a combined profit of nearly $3 million.
Basketball also played a major role.
Drake profited over $600,000 from backing the Denver Nuggets against the Miami Heat and collected more than $610,000 from an earlier wager involving the Golden State Warriors.
However, his most lucrative bet came from a three-leg parlay involving the Dallas Mavericks, New York Rangers and Calgary Flames.
The wager returned more than $2.6 million from a stake of just over $308,000, producing a profit of roughly $2.36 million.
Within months, the picture looked completely different.
A succession of winning wagers across UFC, the NFL, and basketball erased the earlier losses and pushed Drake’s publicly tracked betting record to a peak profit of $4.58 million in July 2023.
Measured against the $3.84 million downturn he had endured months earlier, the turnaround represented an $8.42 million swing.
Why Drake’s Sports Betting Is Back in the Red
Despite the impressive comeback, Drake has proved time and time again that no one can stay on top forever.
After reaching his peak in mid-2023, Drake’s betting results began moving in the opposite direction.
The tracker shows publicly disclosed wagers produced losses of approximately $1.59 million during 2024 and another $1.78 million during 2025.
Among the most expensive defeats were bets on Tyson Fury, Sean Strickland, Francis Ngannou, the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Oklahoma City Thunder.
His most recent tracked wager added another seven-figure loss after he staked $1 million on the New England Patriots to defeat the Seattle Seahawks.
That result pushed his overall record back into negative territory.
Despite wagering $36.95 million and generating returns of $36.17 million, Drake currently sits at a net loss of $786,072 from publicly disclosed sports bets.
He has won 30 of 84 tracked wagers while losing 54.
Drake’s Last 10 Bets Have Cost Him $3.44 Million
Much of Drake’s recent decline can be traced to a particularly poor run over his latest wagers.
According to TheDrakeCurse.com, his last 10 publicly tracked bets have generated losses of approximately $3.44 million.
The slump stretched across nearly every major sport Drake bets on.
Losses on the Toronto Maple Leafs, Oklahoma City Thunder, Baltimore Ravens and New England Patriots accounted for much of the damage, while unsuccessful wagers on Jannik Sinner and Jake Paul added to the decline.
The lone bright spot came from cricket, where a winning wager on Royal Challengers Bengaluru produced a profit of more than $560,000.
But even that success was not enough to offset the wider downturn.
As a result, much of the fortune Drake accumulated during his extraordinary 2023 comeback has now disappeared.
What Is the Drake Curse?
The rollercoaster nature of Drake’s betting record has helped keep the so-called Drake Curse alive.
The meme suggests that athletes, teams, and fighters backed publicly by Drake have an unusual tendency to lose, particularly in high-profile events.
TheDrakeCurse.com identifies 11 instances where Drake lost money backing a favorite.
Whether viewed as a coincidence or genuine bad luck, the phenomenon has become part of sports culture.
Talking in a 2025 interview Drake said: “I feel like I’m a floating sports bettor. It’s not my gift. I’ve left it for everybody to play with.”
“…I’m sure if you’re a believer in the Drake Curse, there’ll be plenty more content in the future to confirm your theories because whatever… my slips are incalculable,” he added.
Kurt Robson is a London-based reporter at CCN, specialising in the fast-moving worlds of crypto and emerging technology. He began his career covering local news in Cornwall after graduating from Falmouth University with First Class Honours in Journalism. There, he cut his teeth on everything from council meetings to missing swans.
He quickly rose through the ranks to become a frontline journalist at several of the UK’s leading national newspapers. Over the years, he has interviewed musicians and celebrities, reported from courtrooms and crime scenes, and secured multiple front-page exclusives.
Following the upheaval of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kurt shifted his focus to technology journalism—just ahead of the AI boom. With a natural curiosity and a trained eye for emerging trends, he has found a new rhythm in reporting on innovation.
At CCN, Kurt's work focuses on the cutting edge of crypto, blockchain, AI, and the evolving digital world. Drawing on his background in people-first reporting and his deep interest in disruptive tech, Kurt delivers stories that are insightful, entertaining, and human-centric.
