Drake’s betting woes pile up as Argentina’s Messi sinks Canada

When the final whistle blew after Canada’s loss to Argentina in the Copa América semi-finals Tuesday night, the players on the pitch weren’t the only Canadians reeling. 

Drake lost US$300,000 after betting on the match — not a devastating amount for the wildly successful Canadian rapper, but it does mark his third significant loss after gambling on underdogs in recent weeks. 

Just last month, Drake bet US$500,000 on the Dallas Mavericks to beat the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals. Minutes later, he wagered a similar amount on the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League to defeat the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Finals. Both fell flat, preventing him from payouts of US$1.4 million and US$1 million, respectively.

Drake posted a receipt for his Canada-Argentina wager on Instagram before the Copa América clash with the caption, “This could get Messi,” along with a Canadian flag emoji. He also tagged Stake, the Australian gambling company he reportedly has a sponsorship deal worth US$100 million a year, with whom he placed the bet. 

Had Canada upset tournament favourite Argentina, the rapper would have got US$2.9 million, an amount partly determined by the valuation of Bitcoin. 

Instead Argentina won 2-0, with the second goal scored by Lionel Messi, who plays his club football in Miami. After the game, the reigning champions posted a photo with the line “Not Like Us,” a reference to the title of the Kendrick Lamar song that was the latest entry in a feud between he and Drake.

Argentina will now play the winner of Uruguay and Colombia in the final in Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday.