The League is a social and dating mobile application launched in 2015 and available in several cities all over the world on

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also include ...

and Android.

History

The League App was founded in 2014 by Amanda Bradford, who also serves as its CEO.Georgia Wells
"Dating Apps Court Older, Wealthier Users,"
''

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'', October 12, 2016.Matt Haber
"The League, a Dating App for Would-Be Power Couples,"
''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', January 23, 2015. She conceived of the app after growing frustrated with her own online dating experience."Controversial New Dating App Is for Singles with High Standards,"

ABC News ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...

, March 10, 2015. In July 2022, The League was acquired by

Match Group Match Group, Inc. is an American internet and technology company headquartered in Dallas, Texas. It owns and operates the largest global portfolio of popular online dating services including Tinder, Match.com, Meetic, OkCupid, Hinge, PlentyO ...

for an undisclosed sum.

Operation

Users connect their

LinkedIn LinkedIn () is an American business and employment-oriented online service that operates via websites and mobile apps. Launched on May 5, 2003, the platform is primarily used for professional networking and career development, and allows job se ...

and

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...

profiles and then select their preferences for matches, with criteria including gender, age, height, distance, education, religion and ethnicity.Meg Graham
"The League brings invite-only dating app to Chicago,"
''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...

'', October 26, 2016.Maya Kosoff
"We got inside the 'Tinder for elites' – here's what it's like to use,"
''Business Insider'', September 15, 2015. Each user is assigned a representative who can answer app-related questions. As with

Tinder Tinder is easily combustible material used to start a fire. Tinder is a finely divided, open material which will begin to glow under a shower of sparks. Air is gently wafted over the glowing tinder until it bursts into flame. The flaming tinder i ...

, users swipe right to indicate interest in a potential match, or swipe left to pass. The League shows users only five potential matches per day. In April 2016, the app released a second version, with members now able to organize events and create groups.Anthony Ha
"The League launches a rebuilt, event-centric dating app,"
TechCrunch, April 28, 2016. In June 2016, the app added a feature for women interested in freezing their eggs.Erica Fink, Anastasia Anashkina and Maya Dangerfield
"Why this dating app founder is freezing her eggs,"

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...

, June 21, 2016.

Selection process

Each member receives one ticket to bring in a friend, allowing that friend to bypass the application process. Without a ticket, a potential user can sign up for the waiting list. The League scans an applicant's Facebook and LinkedIn profiles to analyze alma maters, degrees, professions, industries, social influence, neighborhood and age. Diversity of applicants is also considered.Georgia Wells
"'The League' Dating App's Velvet Rope – and How to Get Past It,"
''Wall Street Journal'', February 18, 2015.Mariya Manzhos

''

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'', October 17, 2016. Currently there are over 420,000 profiles waiting to be selected for inclusion. Paying to become a member allows the user to jump the line. As of August 2016, the median age of the users was 28. They are 95% straight, and 99% have a college degree. As of 2017, The League claimed it was accepting approximately 10-20% of users who sign up.Anthony Ha
"The League brings its picky dating app to Android,"
TechCrunch, January 26, 2017. In May 2016, the app began allowing people older than 40 to sign up.

Controversy

The League's exclusivity has been controversial, with its application process leading ''

Bloomberg Businessweek ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'', is an American weekly business magazine published fifty times a year. Since 2009, the magazine is owned by New York City-based Bloomberg L.P. The magazine debuted in New York City ...

'' to criticize the concept as

elitist Elitism is the belief or notion that individuals who form an elite—a select group of people perceived as having an intrinsic quality, high intellect, wealth, power, notability, special skills, or experience—are more likely to be construc ...

. Allegations of

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonis ...

were due to the requirement for the user to declare their ethnicity, and the ability to filter non-white users. However, Bradford said people wanted to know about a person's race, and the ethnicity data is meant to help the site be more inclusive by being diverse. According to founders of dating apps, including The League, this is because modern dating app algorithms downrank people when left-swiped (passed on), and uprank when right-swiped (approved).

"We did a ton of testing on this screen and these preferences were the most highly requested," she said ... while users can select a preference for the race of partners they'd like to meet, it's not a hard filter. The League shows each user five potential matches each day, and if a user has set his preferences too narrowly, he may be shown matches that don't conform to them, racially or otherwise. ... Bradford insists that the League's policies are meant to make the service more egalitarian, not less -- at least when it comes to race. "The ethnicity data helps us maintain a diverse and balanced community that reflects that of the city (in our case, the San Francisco Bay Area)," she says.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:League Computer-related introductions in 2015 Mobile social software Geosocial networking Online dating services of the United States IOS software Android (operating system) software 2022 mergers and acquisitions

History

Operation

Selection process

Controversy

See also

References