Betting Odds Are Out For the New Pope Elect

We look at sportsbooks offering odds on who will become the next Pope elect at the Vatican. We also name-drop a couple of possible election winners according to expert opinions! (Image by (Image by Ashwin Vaswani on Unsplash)

The election for the Pope has been causing a stir amongst global bookies.

The conclave to elect the next pope begins on 7 May 7 2025, and until then.

Known as the Papal election, the votes are a secretive event held in the Vatican, while on the outside, the crowds attract more people than most major sporting events, waiting for the result.

For those who enjoy a flutter on presidential or parliamentary elections, this rare event becomes a major feature at online sports books across the globe.

It is also a very different type of betting event compared to most other bet types.

There are no opinion polls, as we saw with the latest US elections and as we see with most other government elections.

There are no states either, so mostly we are left with conjecture from those who are experts on the church, who usually have inside connections or are connected to someone with an inside connection. With that said, if you keep your eyes on the odds at the bookmakers, there are already clear trends regarding the succession.

As for the reasons behind the massive hype behind the latest betting event to sweep the world of sports gambling entertainment, the Papal election has come around under the sad circumstances following Pope Francis’ passing away on Easter Monday, 2025.

Which Sports Books are Offering Odds on the Papal Election?

135 candidates and 10 front-runners

As high-ranking representatives of the Catholic Church arrive at the Vatican to initiate the process of electing the next pope, speculation surrounding the papal election involves two names in particular. Pietro Parolin is being dubbed as one of the most likely winners. At the same time, Luis Antonio Tagle, a Filipino, could become the next Pope, making betting on the election even more exciting for those who love a flutter on this type of event.

The list of candidates to become the next Pope comes down to 10 names at the bookies, despite there being a list of 135 names. This makes betting on the pope in 2025 all the more exciting and lucrative, because the odds range from 3.0 to 21.0. Not a bad return if your prediction is correct.

As for the mystery process of electing the next representative of the Catholic Chruch, it has remained practically unchanged for more than 800 years. Also, there is no set deadline. When compared to regular sports betting or elections, where you know the result is coming on a particular day, no one knows how long it will take until a new head of the Catholic Church is chosen.

There are often votes that become undecided, and the chimney of the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel turns black. It isn’t until white smoke appears does the crowd outside and the world of television know the name of a new Pope has been decided, and soon after, the official announcement is made.

Odds for the Name of the Next Pope

Not only is the Papal election an interesting moment in history and for online betting, but there’s also anticipation surrounding the name of the next pope as the newly elected individual gets to choose his name. That’s right, for those of you who did not know, the new Pope will take on a new name, and to make the event even more exciting for bettors, there are odds on whether one of the most recently used names will reappear. Or will the new pope choose a completely different name?

These are some of the names at the top of the list:

• Francis
• John
• Benedict
• John Paul

The new papal name offers another betting opportunity. This decision is announced immediately after the rising white smoke from the Sistine Chapel signals the end of the conclave.

Summing Up the Latest Pope Predictions for 2025

The Pope’s predictions for 2025 don’t offer much insight. Low and high betting odds are not very meaningful. The consensus among analysts is that the papal election is unpredictable. There are many other promising candidates we’ve not mentioned, such as the German Archbishop of Munich and Freising, Reinhard Marx, or Ludwig Müller and Rainer Maria Woelki.

The key question will be: Which direction will the cardinals take? Do they want change, or rather someone like Péter Erdő from Hungary, who holds ultra-conservative views? Or could we see the first elected Asian Pope in history?