What in God's Name is the Fantasy Pope League? Draft Your Favorite Cardinal

By now you've probably heard that gambling sites are offering betting on the next pope, with a selection possible any day now.

But have you heard of the Fantasy Pope League?

It's called Fantapapa.

From Casino Beats:

‘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 concept is very similar to the traditional fantasy sports platforms existing today.

Stuart Hughes of Casino Beats explains that, 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.

More than 130 Catholic cardinals on Wednesday began the centuries-old ritual to elect a successor to Pope Francis.

"People are usually not as much into conclaves as I am," the Italian game developer, Mauro Vanetti, told As It Happens host Nil Köksal. "I only watch TV during conclaves.

"The election of the pope might be seen as a very religious and pious event, but it's also kind of a power grab in a way. So people like to imagine themselves within this plot," he said.

"Or sometimes they want to express their distance from these kinds of manoeuvres. And that's also something that games can do. They can make you feel inside something, or they can also make you kind of put things in perspective and make fun of them, mock them in a good way."

Here are the current odds at BetUS (subject to change)

+150 pays US$150 for every US$100 bet, +500 pays US$500 for every US$100 bet, and so on.

• Luis Antonio Tagle         +150
• Pietro Parolin         +175
• Peter Turkson         +500
• Robert Sarah         +1200
• Matteo Zuppi         +600
• Peter Erdo         +800
• Pierbattista Pizzaballa         +800
• Fridolin Ambongo Besungu         +1800
• Kevin Farrell         +2500
• Jean-Marc Aveline         +1400
• Robert Prevost         +1500
• Francis Arinze         +2200