An estimated 600,000 tourists and 3.1 million locals will be traveling in Brazil for this summer’s month-long FIFA World Cup, and they won’t be lonely. Soccer fans are taking full advantage of the event to meet new lovers using location-based hookup apps, Quartz reports.
Hookup apps like Tinder and Grindr, which are popular around the world, allow users to swipe through pictures of potential matches that are geographically close to them. If two people select one another, they can choose to start chatting and then take it from there. This simple, quick setup caters perfectly to short-time travelers looking for a fling after their soccer team of choice wins a game—or better yet, looking for some comfort after a devastating loss.
Tinder is reporting a 50% uptick in downloads and usage in Brazil—which already has the dating app’s third-largest user base, after the U.S. and the U.K.—since the World Cup began. Grindr, an app designed specifically for gay and bisexual men, has seen a 31% increase in the number of times users have opened the app in the area since the tournament began in June.
This isn’t the first time Tinder has made a splash at an international sporting event. Olympians admitted to frequent use of the app during the Winter Olympics in Sochi this past winter. And why not? There were so many in-shape people to choose from.
Hookup apps are probably not as popular among the athletes in Brazil right now: Some of the World Cup players are restricted in their romantic escapades by their teams. But even if the players may not be getting any action, that’s not stopping the fans.
[Quartz]
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