Play your cardinals right: Betting on next pope gains popularity ahead of the conclave

ROME — Next week's conclave to elect the successor to Pope Francis as leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics is a solemn affair steeped in centuries-old traditions.

But far from the Sistine Chapel where cloistered cardinals will cast votes, people are placing bets on who will be chosen as the next pope. From cash bets on websites to online games modeled after fantasy football leagues and casual wagers among friends and families, the popularity of guessing and gambling on the future of the papacy is increasing worldwide, experts and participants say.

It's even topped the Europa League soccer tournament and Formula One drivers' championship, said Sam Eaton, U.K. manager for Oddschecker, a leading online platform analyzing odds across sports, events and other betting markets.

''There's a huge level of interest globally," he said. ''I don't think we've had a market like this where we've had so many countries interested in seeing odds.''

Around the world, thousands of bets on the next pope

Hundreds of thousands of people from some 140 countries have visited Oddschecker to review each cardinal's chances of becoming the next pope, Eaton said. He noted special eagerness in the United Kingdom, Ireland and the United States.

In the U.K., about 30,000 pounds (almost $40,000) have been wagered with one leading online betting platform as of this week, Eaton said – a far cry from 1.2 million pounds on the singing contest Eurovision but still noteworthy as a trend, with the conclave days away.

''Betting on the next pope is definitely a niche market in the grand scheme of things, but it generates global interest,'' said Lee Phelps, a spokesman for William Hill, one of the U.K.'s biggest bookmakers.

''Since April 21, we've taken thousands of bets, and it's the busiest of all our non-sports betting markets,'' said Phelps, who expects a surge in interest once the conclave begins Wednesday.

Betting on elections, papal conclaves and all manner of global events is almost a tradition of its own in the U.K., but such betting is not legal in the United States. BetMGM, one of the world's top sports-betting companies, said it would not have any bets up.

But Eaton noted that in the unregulated, illegal space, one of the biggest sites has $10 million wagered so far in pope bets.

Fantasy ''teams'' of cardinals

In Italy, betting on the papal election — and all religious events — is forbidden.

Some people in Rome are making friendly, informal wagers — the equivalent of $20 on a favorite cardinal, with the loser pledging to host a dinner or buy a pizza night out.

Others are turning to an online game called Fantapapa, or Fantasy Pope, which mimics popular fantasy football and soccer leagues. More than 60,000 people are playing, each choosing 11 cardinals – as if for a soccer team – whom they believe have the best shot at becoming the next pope.

They also draft the top contender, or captain. As with online wagers, the No. 1 choice for fantasy players has been Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin, closely followed by Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle.

''It's a really fun game to play with friends and have a laugh,'' Italian student Federico La Rocca, 23, said. ''Initially my dad sent it to me ironically, but now that it's going to be the conclave, I decided to have a go and try it.''

La Rocca said he chose Tagle because ''he looks like a nice guy and fun person.''

Players' selections determine the number of points they rake in. But what's the jackpot?

''Eternal glory,'' joked Mauro Vanetti, who created the game when Francis was hospitalized earlier this year.

Vanetti said he and his co-founder are against gambling, but they wanted to create something fun around the event.

''It seems like in Italy there's a certain inquisitiveness about the mechanisms of the Catholic hierarchy, but it's a critical curiosity, a sarcastic and playful curiosity, so we were interested in this jesting spirit for such a solemn event,'' Vanetti said. ''In some ways it deflates the sacredness, in a nonaggressive way.''

Some concerns about betting on a solemn event

Beyond simply picking who the next pope will be, players and gamblers also can guess how many tries it will take the cardinals to choose the leader, which day of the week he'll be elected, what new name he will decide on, or where his priorities will land on the progressive-conservative scale.

While the game and some of the bets have a novel or fun nature, anti-gambling advocates have raised overall concerns about legal gaming and the growing popularity of wagering on all manner of events.

A study published last fall found that 10% of young men in the U.S. show behavior that indicates a gambling problem, which is a rising concern in other parts of the world, too.

And for gambling around the papacy in general, some have raised religious concerns. Catholic teaching doesn't go so far as to call games of chance or wagers sinful, but its Catechism warns that ''the passion for gambling risks becoming an enslavement.''

It says gambling becomes ''morally unacceptable'' if it gravely affects a person's livelihood.

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Hui reported from London. AP writers Giovanna Dell'Orto in Rome and Mark Anderson in Las Vegas contributed.

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