The appointment of Robert Francis Prevost as Pope Leo XIV, who hails from Chicago, has encouraged gamblers to bet on the city’s sports teams in a show of faith.
Prevost was an outsider in the betting market for the new Pope at +5000 on BetMGM, and just 1% of bettors backed him. But now gamblers are flocking to Illinois sports betting with a view that Pope Leo can offer some divine intervention.
Bears and Cubs backed in record numbers
Hard Rock Bet and ESPN Bet reported the most bets in a single day ever for the Bears to win the Super Bowl on May 9th after Prevost was elected on May 8th. The Bears received over twice as many Super Bowl bets as any other team in a 24-hour span after the papal announcement.Pope Leo is actually a White Sox fan and was caught on camera at the 2005 World Series giving his support to the team.
Similarly, Hard Rock Bet reported the most bets in a day on the Chicago Cubs to win the World Series since the market opened. Neil Walsh, SVP at Hard Rock Bet, commented that,
“Sports fans are looking for anything, even potential divine intervention, to help their favorite teams win.”
Walsh added that many gamblers put bets on in pure faith, stating, “Some of our players look at data, others rely on gut feeling, and in this case, potentially a higher power, as we’ve seen a greater than expected volume of bets come through with fans tailing the new Pope’s hometown teams with their wagering.”
Pope Leo is actually a White Sox fan and was caught on camera at the 2005 World Series giving his support to the team. However, gamblers believe even divine intervention is not enough to give the +50000 shots any hope of a repeat victory this year.
Gamblers go wild for the Wildcats
Bettors are backing the Villanova Wildcats to take the NCAA title next year, however, despite their long odds of +8000. Provost graduated from Villanova University with a Bachelor’s degree in mathematics in 1977 before his journey with the Catholic Church.
“The interest in Villanova basketball picked up pretty much as soon as we saw the white smoke,” said Adam Landeka, ESPN BET’s VP of Sportsbook Strategy & Growth. “While the Bears and Cubs also saw an uptick in futures betting, the action on Villanova is most notable, with more than 50 percent of bets and nearly a third of all handle on next year’s NCAA men’s champion coming in on the Wildcats.”
According to Pikkit, a US online sports betting app that allows players to sync their sportsbook accounts, Villanova racked up 70 percent of the bets and 40 percent of the money among all national title bets since Thursday.
Hard Rock Bet also said that many gamblers are taking a huge leap of faith and going for the Holy Trinity: the Cubs to capture the World Series, the Bears to triumph in the Super Bowl and Villanova to net the NCAA title. A $10 wager on that parlay would pay out $703,970 if all three legs hit.
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.
