Pope Leo XIV's White Sox Fandom Lifts Team After First American Pope's 2025 Election
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Aug 7
Pope Leo XIV's White Sox Fandom Lifts Team After First American Pope's 2025 Election
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Aug 7
Summary
May 8, 2025, brought the Chicago White Sox an unexpected boost when Robert Prevost was elected Pope Leo XIV and was soon identified as a White Sox fan, not a Cubs supporter.
That clarification came from the pope's brother after early reports and a Cubs social-media post cast the first American pope from the Chicago area as a North Side fan.
Mike Downey, the White Sox's senior director of promotions and marketing, quickly saw the revelation as a rare opening for a club that had struggled to draw fans.
The episode turned a Vatican milestone into a South Side marketing windfall, tying the team's recent revival to the global attention around a Chicago-born pope.