Despite All The Dire Warnings

Soccer fans in Germany for the World Cup are pretty much keeping it in their pants. The expected (and much ballyhooed) boom in business for prostitutes has not materialized. Only a very few places have seen an increase in business and some are even reporting a drop as regulars stay away because of the crowds and hype.

BERLIN (Reuters) – The hordes of beer-swilling men who have descended on Germany for the World Cup are proving a disappointment for the host nation's sex workers, preferring to party in public rather than spend time with prostitutes.

While some larger red-light establishments in host cities have seen their cash tills ringing, a lot of prostitutes say the anticipated boost for Germany's liberal sex industry has failed to materialize.

"The pent-up sexual demand of horny fans from around the world which has been widely anticipated has not materialized at all," said Karolina Leppert, president of Germany's association for sexual service providers BSD.

"Business is pretty dead, even the regulars stay away because of all the crowds and the hype," said Leppert, who has been working as a dominatrix in Berlin for eight years.

More than a million foreign soccer fans are expected to visit Germany during the four-week tournament, many of them from nations where prostitution is illegal, like the U.S. or Sweden.

In Germany, where it is legal and workers can join unions, get health insurance or a pension plan, expectations have been high that fans would visit prostitutes after a match.

But already facing a steep bill for their World Cup trip, male fans are opting to spend time with fellow fans in host cities' open-air party venues.

Pretty funny, really. All those dire warnings and it simply hasn't happened.