Fantasy Pope League Goes Viral in Italy Ahead of Vatican’s Conclave Kickoff

In Italy, where soccer is a religion unto itself, it is no surprise that citizens have discovered a way to turn the search for a new pope into a football-themed fantasy league.

‘Fantapapa’ has taken Italy by storm, with more than 75,000 players now playing the virtual online game. Following a familiar fantasy football format, the game allows users to draft their future pope’s dream team of 11 cardinals, including a team captain and even a goalkeeper.

However, whereas Italy’s legendary shot-stoppers have included Buffon, Zoff, and Donnarumma, this time, the goalkeepers are the cardinals whom players think are the least likely to ascend to the papacy.

The ingenious concept incorporates the same rules of fantasy football. Rather than simply picking the next pope, players can earn points for their chosen cardinal’s media appearances while also predicting the prospective pope’s name, ideological leanings, and the number of voting rounds it takes to name a successor. 

Resistance to Religious-themed and Pope Betting in Italy

The game’s appeal is undoubtedly driven by Italy’s Customs and Monopolies Agency’s (ADM) preference not to bet on religious occasions. While international bookmakers have fluctuating odds on the papabili (papal contenders), Italian law discourages betting on holy matters, hence Fantapapa’s playful appeal as a wagering-free alternative. This is despite the Italian regulator’s reorganization of the country’s gambling regime last year.                                                                                            

“There are no prizes; it’s just for fun and for eternal glory,” said Pietro Pace, one of the game’s co-creators and an AI architect at Microsoft. Pace and Mauro Vanetti, a video game developer, stated they began building the game after Pope Francis was hospitalized in February.

Drawing inspiration from Italy’s fantasy football league, Fantacalcio and Fantasanremo, a popular fantasy game centered around the Sanremo Music Festival, launched the game after the pope’s death on April 21.

Top Potential Pope Picks

Despite a wide-open field, four names appear to dominate the teamsheets: Pietro Parolin, Italy’s Secretary of State; Luis Antonio Tagle of the Philippines; Peter Turkson of Ghana; and Matteo Zuppi, the popular Archbishop of Bologna.

While the bookies have Parolin edging ahead, Zuppi appears to be commanding a larger proportion of the female vote on Fantapapa’s Instagram.

The conclave begins on Wednesday, May 7, and will see over a hundred cardinals herded inside the Sistine Chapel voting to choose the next pope. Unlike fantasy football’s first past-the-post format, the triumphant candidate will need a two-thirds majority to be named Pope Francis’s successor in the Vatican.

For fans of any religion, the fantasy football-esque game provides a chance for a bit of fun and a chance to engage with history in a real-time setting. The game’s creators view it as a social experiment with an insightful mix of humor and reverence.

As Mauro Vanetti puts it, “It seemed interesting to us to take it from a light-hearted side, but also based on real data.” While purists may frown on its modern adaptation of a traditionally solemn institutional process, for thousands of Italians, it seems the game has reignited the popularity of this centuries-old ritual of choosing the next pope.

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 In Italy, where soccer is a religion unto itself, it is no surprise that citizens have discovered a way to turn the search for a new pope into a football-themed fantasy league. ‘Fantapapa’ has taken Italy by storm, with more than 75,000 players now playing the virtual online game. Following a familiar fantasy football format,
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