Jay Z reportedly placed a $1 million bet on the Oklahoma City Thunder to beat the Indiana Pacers 4-1 in the NBA Finals. Oklahoma won Game 2 on Sunday to keep the bet alive.
Fanatics Sportsbook posted on X that Jay-Z had put down $1 million on the bet on Friday following Indiana’s one-point win. The rapper stands to win $2.3 million if Oklahoma can win the next three games.
Oklahoma started the series as strong favorites at -700, but an upset in game 2 pushed the odds out to -275 to win the series and +310 to win the series 4-1. Jay-Z had placed the bet before game 1 but the odds of 4-1 remained unchanged at +330 after the first match.
Oklahoma won the second game 123-107 on Sunday night with 5 players scoring 15 or more points for the first time in an NBA Finals match since 2000. The league’s MVP and scoring champion Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, led the way with 34 points, followed by Alex Caruso (20), Jalen Williams (19), Aaron Wiggins (18), and Chet Holmgren (15).
On the match, Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said, “I thought everyone played better individually, and I thought we played better collectively.”
Jay-Z betting on Fanatics
A bigger wager by Jay-Z, however, was the $350 million he invested in Fanatics Sportsbook in 2021. The publicised $1 million bet might be more of a PR stunt than an actual wager as the businessman attempts to drum up more interest in his investment.
His investment was part of a round of funding that valued the company at $18 billion. That rose to $31 billion in a subsequent round of funding in December 2022, and the sports betting platform is now valued at around $25 billion. Jay-Z’s share of around 1.9% is worth roughly $475 million.
Whether the $1 million bet is real or not, it represents a drop in the ocean for the RocStar Records owner. His net worth is estimated to be $2.5 billion.
Other high-profile bets by celebrities
Jay-Z will still be hoping he avoids the fate of Drake, who placed a losing $500,000 bet on the NBA Finals last year. Drake posted his betslip on Instagram, showing the $500,000 wager on the Dallas Mavericks at Stake. Had Dallas won the Championship, the Canadian rapper would have received a $1.375 million payout. Dallas lost the series 4-1 to Boston, however.
Similar to Jay-Z’s case, Drake has a vested interest in promoting Stake. He signed a deal with the sweepstakes casino operator for over $100 million and regularly promotes the platform in live betting sessions streamed on Kick.
Game 3 of the Finals takes place on Wednesday, with Oklahoma -220 to get ahead in the series.
Adam is an experienced writer with years of experience in the gambling industry. He has worked as a content writer and editor for five years on sites such as Oddschecker, CoinTelegraph and Gambling Industry News, bringing excellent knowledge of the world of sports betting and online gambling. Adam focuses on emerging stories in the ever changing landscape of betting in the US. Read the latest on prediction markets, changing legislation, and sweepstakes.
