The Eternal City Tip-Off brought a piece of America to Rome We attended the NCAA season opener, where college basketball met Rome through American fans, Luigi Suigo and its connection to Pope Leo XIV

Arriving in the EUR district on Sunday afternoon, it was immediately clear that something unusual was happening at the Palazzo dello Sport. Almost everyone was speaking English, while groups of university students wore shirts that made their allegiances instantly recognisable: light blue for Villanova and gold and blue for Notre Dame. Inside the arena, among the drums and brass sections of the bands, DJ booths and courtside mascots, the impression became even stronger: college basketball had arrived in Rome, bringing its entire world with it.

The occasion was the Eternal City Tip-Off, a double-header between the men’s and women’s teams of Villanova and Notre Dame, the two universities that opened the 2026/27 NCAA season, with Notre Dame winning both games. The men’s team came back to win 74-72, while the women recorded a comfortable 99-75 victory. Around the afternoon in the EUR district, meanwhile, an initiative took shape that brought together the customs of American sport, a large travelling contingent from the United States, the relationship between the two Catholic universities and the Vatican, and one final opportunity for the Italian public to watch Luigi Suigo on this side of the Atlantic.

An American atmosphere

For a few hours, it really felt as though we were on the other side of the Atlantic. There were chants, cries of “defense! defense!” during the opposition’s possessions and bands playing in the stands. But there was also the way people returned to their seats, particularly at the beginning of the second half, when a large section of the crowd was still at the bar, waiting in line or finishing something to eat and drink. Is there a more American way to experience an arena? During one timeout, “That’s Amore” also began playing, selected from the inevitable repertoire of clichés that apparently has to accompany Americans in Italy. (Or Italians abroad, as you probably noticed during the award ceremony for Kimi Antonelli after the Mexican Formula 1 Grand Prix.)

The rest of the soundtrack came directly from the world of college basketball, as did the court itself and everything surrounding it. Even the hardwood floor was built in the United States and shipped to Europe, together with — aesthetically, at least — a setup of scoreboards, clocks, screens and decorative elements designed to faithfully recreate the conditions of an NCAA game.

The atmosphere, however, was shaped above all by the people in the stands. Of the more than 10,000 spectators at the PalaEUR, the vast majority were American, with Villanova appearing at first glance to have the largest following. The first two tiers — those reserved for packages aimed at American supporters — were full, while looking up towards the third — open to the Italian public — revealed long rows of empty seats, interrupted only by small pockets of spectators. A discrepancy that was only surprising up to a point.

The travelling American community

Both the way it was designed and the response it attracted help explain why the Eternal City Tip-Off — originally scheduled for the PalaTiziano before that venue proved too small for the expected turnout — felt like a gathering for the two university communities, which transferred part of their lives to Rome for a few days. “We could have sold out with the US market alone, had we wanted to,” John Anthony, spokesperson for On Location, the company responsible for travel packages and hospitality, told us. The event was organised alongside FOX Sports and Players Era.

What stands out most is the idea that thousands of people were willing to cross the Atlantic to follow their university. It is the kind of travelling support that Italian football, for example, would like to attract when it takes the Supercoppa to Saudi Arabia. Convincing supporters to travel, however, means reckoning with the appeal of the destination, the cost of the journey and the time and money available. In this case, Rome and the opportunity to meet the Pope offered a combination that would be difficult to replicate.

The game therefore became the meeting point of a much broader journey. The options available to supporters included four-day all-inclusive packages from 30 October to 2 November, covering hotels, access to the games, receptions and local experiences. These ranged from city tours, open-top bus rides and events at Villa Miani to Mass at St Peter’s Basilica and an audience with the Pope. The most comprehensive packages could cost more than $6,000 per person. Before the event, Anthony estimated an overall economic impact on Italy of approximately $21 million, based on 7,000 travellers spending an average of $3,000 each during their stay.

For Europeans accustomed to the games that the NBA and NFL bring to the continent, the comparison came naturally. At the EUR, however, the overriding feeling was that we had entered the sporting life of two American universities for an afternoon. The teams arrived together with the people who give meaning to that context, and for those of us who had not travelled from the United States, this was the most interesting part: experiencing college basketball alongside the people who are part of those universities every day.

Why did the NCAA come to Rome?

The roots of this encounter date back to 8 May 2025, the day of the fourth ballot of the Conclave. A few hours after the election of Robert Francis Prevost — from that day onwards Pope Leo XIV — Villanova athletic director Eric Roedl sent Anthony a message: “Villanova-Notre Dame in Rome?” As John Anthony told Town & Country, within 48 hours both universities had approved the idea of a men’s game, with the women’s matchup soon added to the programme. By coincidence, a similar idea was taking shape within FOX, and the two projects eventually converged into the event organised by On Location, Players Era and FOX Sports. It was orchestrated by the two universities with the approval of the NCAA, which authorised the games to be played one day before the official start of the season.

The connections with Pope Leo XIV are, as mentioned, a crucial part of this story. Prevost graduated from Villanova with a degree in mathematics in 1977, belongs to the Augustinian order that founded the university and, above all, has a long-standing relationship with its basketball programme. As a student, he attended games at the university’s gym in Philadelphia and later, while serving as a bishop in Peru, joined group chats to follow the team, as chaplain Rob Hagan recently recalled. Notre Dame, meanwhile, brought its own Catholic tradition and a history of intense rivalry with Villanova from their years together in the Big East.

The Augustinians in the stands yesterday made this connection visible during the afternoon at the PalaEUR. The Pope, meanwhile, had received the delegations the previous day in the Paul VI Audience Hall, following a Mass celebrated at St Peter’s Basilica by Archbishop Nelson Pérez. On that occasion, he dribbled the basketball he had received as a gift and joked about his loyalties: “So the Pope doesn’t take sides. Prevost has another opinion, but we won’t do that now.” Saturday’s programme also included an activity at the PalaEUR with Special Olympics and Athletica Vaticana, alongside two former NBA players, Randy Foye and Pat Garrity.

Luigi Suigo’s American debut in Italy

For Luigi Suigo, the 19-year-old Italian from Varese, yesterday’s game marked the unusual beginning of his NCAA career. Watching him in person immediately helps explain the expectations surrounding him: at 2.21 metres tall, his presence draws the eyes and attention of everyone in the arena. The nickname “the Italian Wemby” reflects the anticipation around him, even if his mobility and athleticism are different from those of Victor Wembanyama. His technique and reading of the game are still works in progress, but his potential is already clear to see.

Making his Villanova debut in an Italian arena, in any case, was a once-in-a-lifetime and rather surreal coincidence. The Eternal City Tip-Off had been announced well before his decision not to enter the 2026 NBA Draft and to sign with the university last June. His debut, however, gave the event another reason to attract attention.

One day, we may remember yesterday afternoon as the beginning of a bright journey across the Atlantic, one that is expected to continue at the next level, in the NBA, from 2027. Suigo is entering a world that, from Italy, we are used to watching through a screen, but that was not the case yesterday. For once, it surrounded us, with its colours and the thousands of people who had travelled from the other side of the world to follow their university.