Drake’s Oilers bet with Stake is one that local NHL fans can’t make themselves | CBC News

Drake has seemingly bet large on the Edmonton Oilers to win the Stanley Cup Finals.

A current publish on his Instagram account outlines a $500,000 US bet in favour of the Canadian workforce hoping to deliver the Cup north of the border for the first time in 30-plus years.

“Oilers are self explanatory,” reads the post from last Thursday on Drake’s @champagnepapi account, which notes the bet was made with Stake — a web site with which he has a paid relationship, reportedly value tens of millions, as a model ambassador.

The Stanley Cup bet story has already garnered a lot of media consideration in Canada, although it isn’t clear how helpful it is for Stake, given that it is probably not a lot of a participant on this aspect of the border at the moment.

That’s as a result of Stake, which describes itself as a licensed worldwide operator, is not legally approved to supply sports activities betting within the province of Alberta. And it isn’t a authorized possibility in additional than half a dozen different provinces, with regulators and officers in B.C., Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Atlantic Canada confirming they’ve sole websites approved for on-line sports activities betting, which are not the one that Drake used. Stake is not working in Ontario, the one province with a broad authorized marketplace for on-line playing.

It’s unclear how Drake locations his bets, however Stake says “an important part of our engagement with Drake is ensuring that relevant legislation regarding betting and streaming activities is complied with.” 

Emailed questions about Drake’s Oilers bet and relationship with Stake that had been despatched to Brent Smith, a reserving agent who represents Drake at Wasserman, didn’t yield a written response.

‘Global viewers’ for hockey

“I’ve never heard of Stake before [this],” mentioned Andrew Kim, an assistant professor of psychology on the University of Calgary, who research sports activities playing. 

He identified that with Drake’s tens of millions of followers on Instagram, there can be undoubtedly extra individuals on this aspect of the border, like himself, absorbing the Drake-and-Stake story.

“Not all of them are Canadians, but a lot of them will be Canadians and they will see that,” mentioned Kim.

When requested if the Drake-involved bet is supposed to attract consideration of Canadian customers, Stake informed CBC News that the enchantment of hockey goes past Canada’s borders.

“While events like the Stanley Cup are popular in Canada, they are also followed by a global audience,” the corporate mentioned in an e mail.

No Stake in Ontario — but

Further east, Oilers fans in Ontario — a province, which against this, has established a broad legal market with dozens of licensed non-public operators — can’t bet on Stake both.

IGaming Ontario (iGO), a subsidiary of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO), informed CBC News that Stake is not a licensed operator within the Ontario market.

And whereas an iGO spokesperson wouldn’t touch upon “prospective operators that may join the market in the future,” there are business rumblings that Stake is making an attempt to do exactly that — with the Financial Times reporting last year that Stake was searching for a playing licence in Ontario.

There’s additionally the very fact that Ontarians visiting the Stake.com web site are prompted with a message indicating they need to go to Stake.ca, the place “going forward” it will likely be “a fully licensed platform” for purchasers in Canada’s most-populous province. 

As of Monday, nevertheless, the Stake.ca web site mentioned solely that its companies had been “coming [in] 2024.”

The firm itself confirms it isn’t “currently” working there.

“As a global online platform, availability is subject to the regulatory requirements of the region,” Stake informed CBC News.

Karin Campbell, the supervisor of communications for Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis confirms that the provincially-run Play Alberta web site “is the only regulated and legal online gaming site in Alberta.”

It’s the identical story in B.C., Saskatchewan and Manitoba, which every have single authorized websites the place their residents can bet on sports activities.

Atlantic Canada is one other area the place Canadians aren’t presupposed to be trying elsewhere to bet on sports activities.

Greg Weston, senior communications counsel for the Atlantic Lottery Corporation, says his group carries “the sole authority and responsibility to operate the only legal online gaming and sports betting platform in the Atlantic Canadian provinces.”

In an e mail, Weston mentioned there many individuals within the Atlantic area seeing adverts for websites and companies that “cannot legally operate or advertise” there. 

“An estimated $190 million leaves our region each year through play on these illegal gambling websites,” mentioned Weston, who famous Atlantic Lottery has simply launched a marketing campaign to increase awareness about this issue.

Drake, UFC, soccer and F1 racing

The Stake brand can be acquainted to fans of Formula One motor racing and of English Premier League soccer.

Because the model’s brand at the moment seems on the entrance of Everton FC jerseys, in addition to on the automobiles and equipment of an F1 workforce that was amongst these competing at last weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix.

Stake’s web site lists different sponsorships, nevertheless, together with these with the UFC league and likewise with Drake. 

The firm’s efforts to advertise its model by way of a majority of these sports activities leads Kim to suspect it is aiming to draw the eye of youthful, educated males who’ve disposable earnings — a demographic he says are more likely to take part in sports activities betting.

“That’s the target audience,” mentioned Kim.

Stake says its brand-ambassador partnership with Drake dates again “several years” and pointed to posts on social media that have highlighted that.

“With regards to Drake’s betting activities, these are his personal choices and not influenced or directed by Stake,” the corporate mentioned.

Ontario regulator watching

In Ontario, on-line playing operators aren’t presupposed to have athletes, celebrities or different influential individuals selling their companies in the event that they would be likely to appeal to minors. (There is one exception: Such people are permitted to promote responsible  gambling.)

When requested in regards to the case involving Drake and Stake, AGCO mentioned it “does not have regulatory authority over unregulated gaming sites or those that operate outside of Ontario.”

But the regulator mentioned it “monitors the corporate behaviour of entities applying to enter the Ontario market, including their activities in other jurisdictions, and considers this information appropriately when determining their eligibility for registration in Ontario.”

Furthermore, any firm cleared to enter the Ontario market must meet all regulatory requirements, the AGCO mentioned.