Professional Athlete Dating Sites & Apps in 2024 According to Dating Experts
Do you make your living as an athlete? If so, you probably know that modern dating as an athlete has vastly more challenges than other types of occupations. It can be difficult to find someone with the same level of commitment to athletic excellence and the demands of your sport. Plus, finding people in person can be hit or miss, especially when it’s hard to tell who actually just likes to hit the rec center versus those who strive to make a name for themselves. That’s why finding the right dating app for athletes is an absolute game changer (pun intended).
Before you read further, let us give you a quick summary of the Athlete dating apps that have consistently worked for us:
| Site | Our Experience | Our Rating | Free Trial Link |
|---|---|---|---|
Best For Relationships  | Experience Highlights
| 9 | Try eHarmony |
Best For Casual Fun  | Experience Highlights
| 9 | Try AFF For Free |
Great If You're Handsome  | Tinder Highlights
| 8 | Try Tinder |
Dating apps provide the best way to vet potential matches, talk in a safe and secure online environment from the convenience of your computer/phone, and eventually set up a date to find potential love. In this article, we’ll look at each dating app for athletes worth using, considerations you should have in mind when choosing the right app, and plenty of useful tips that’ll give you a competitive advantage.
Our method for finding the best athlete dating apps and sites is rigorous but effective. First, we check out a variety of potential candidates and we eliminate any dating apps with sketchy practices. Next, we test out each athlete dating app for several weeks, using both the free and paid versions. After that, we create the final list of the best dating apps for athletes that are worth your time.
The Top Two Professional Athlete Dating Sites Right Now: Playoff and eHarmony
Let’s take a look at why they’re perfect for athletes and beat out some stiff competition, which you’ll learn about later in the article.
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 |
|
|---|---|---|
| Overall Our team rates each site objectively based on many hours of independent research, the features each site offers, and how it compares with other sites. The ratings are the opinion of our editors and their extensive experience. |
8 | 9.5 |
| Quality of Women Our opinion of how attractive the typical woman is that uses this site and how easy they are to connect with compared to other sites. |
9 | 9 |
| Popular How many people are using this site to actually meet people compared to other sites. |
6 | 9 |
| Usability How easy is this site to use and how quickly can an average person begin meeting people compared to other sites. |
8 | 10 |
| Privacy & Safety Does this site take proper precautions to safeguard its members, their identity, and their data. |
9 | 10 |
| Effective Our opinion of how easily an average person will be able to achieve their dating goals with this site compared to other sites. |
7 | 9 |
| Value Will the time and money spent using this site pay off for an average person based on the opinions and experience of our editors. |
8 | 10 |
Try Playoff if you’re a professional athlete
Playoff is a dating app for former and current college/professional athletes. The app has a stringent verification process, where every athlete is verified and must prove that they were actually on a roster at a junior college, college, professional or Olympic level (not just tried out for the team and never made it on the field). Playoff aims to connect like-minded athletes that know what it’s like to actually engage in all of the challenges on and off the field.
Try eHarmony if you’re looking for the most compatible match
eHarmony is the perfect app for athletes that want a compatible match. Because most successful athletes have a loved one cheering for them in the stands, you’ll be happy to know that 7 out of 10 people who use eHarmony get married after one year. Try finding those winning percentages on other platforms!
Why does eHarmony work so well? First, it bucks the trend of most swipe-oriented dating apps by beginning with a lengthy questionnaire. The questionnaire is designed to screen out those who aren’t serious about dating while also honing who’s actually compatible with your busy and demanding lifestyle.
Second, eHarmony picks a pool of partners from their user base that are the most compatible instead of giving you unlimited access – which means you won’t have to deal with other users who decide to “play the numbers”. Try eHarmony today for free with a paid trial, but you’ll see the best results by signing up for a paid membership.
The Other Top Dating Sites for Athletes Worth Considering
Beyond the Top 2 dating apps for athletes listed above, we have three other options that can fit the bill if you want as many apps at your disposal as needed. Here are our other top dating sites for athletes:
Tinder Select
If you’ve achieved some level of fame, regular Tinder isn’t enough. Tinder Select offers athletes the ability to enjoy better search results and features that can be toggled on/off from “regular” Tinder. That being said, this app didn’t make it into the top 2 because you can only join Tinder Select if you’ve been invited by the app or by another Tinder Select user.
Raya
Now we all know that athletes are some of the highest-paid professionals in the world. With big leagues of fans, it’s also pretty common for athletes to want to stay out of the public view in their own time. So most of them turn to Raya when they’re looking for someone to date. Raya isn’t a dating app exclusively for athletes, but it does attract plenty of athletes who make bank with just one game.
Bumble
Bumble is a general use app that puts the decision-making on women to make the first move. For athletes with great pictures, Bumble is the right app to interact with women who are interested right from the get-go. We couldn’t put this app in our top picks because Bumble does take a bit of effort to use and get consistent results, but you’ll be surprised with your results if you swipe daily and use a paid membership.
The Most Important Considerations when Choosing a Good Athlete Dating App
Dating apps need to be weighed carefully before committing your limited time and hard-earned money. To help you choose which dating app for athletes works for you, review the five (5) following criteria to make the best choice.
Consideration #1 – Check out the number of users to ensure the app is worth using
There’s a sweet spot between a huge number of users versus more exclusive apps with a limited number of active users. Don’t be afraid to use multiple dating apps until you’ve found the right app(s) that fit the variety of people that you want to meet. In fact, you might even see some crossover from other athletes that are using multiple apps!
Consideration #2 – Consider your local social circle and working relationships
The athletic world is fairly small and it gets even smaller when you realize who’s engaged in your own sport/activity. If you notice that you’re only getting matches among people you already know and are afraid of putting yourself out there for privacy reasons, you may want to be selective on which apps you regularly use.
Remember, there’s relatively little you can do to avoid other people from peering into your private life – especially for those who are relatively famous – so weigh the pros and cons of using certain dating apps that might say more than you’re willing to say to your colleagues, strangers, and even competitors.
Consideration #3 – What type of relationship is the app geared towards?
Not all apps are designed for every type of relationship. Pay attention to whether the dating app for athletes is for on-demand hookups, serious relationships, or just casual dating. For example, using AFF won’t get you a long-lasting love in most circumstances, nor will eHarmony help you blow off some steam after a long workout.
Consideration #4 – Is it just a fitness dating app?
All athletes keep themselves in some sort of peak physical condition, whereas not everyone who makes fitness a priority dedicates their life to athleticism. Fitness dating apps, or those that simply let you screen by “body type” and “interests: fitness” may not yield the type of people that you’d necessarily want to meet.
Consideration #5 – Does the dating app protect your privacy?
If you’re regularly engaged in public competitions or even have a bit of celebrity status, privacy is your top concern to avoid embarrassing conversations, scandals, or even criminals that attempt to blackmail you. Make sure the app(s) you’re using have privacy settings that enable you to hide your profile until you’ve selected a match or use an app that features an exclusive user base (which are more expensive, but totally worth it).
5 Key Tips to Get Great Results Using Athlete Dating Apps and Meeting Athletic People
Now that you’re up to speed on which apps we feel are best and the considerations you need for a proper mindset, it’s time to turn our attention to some tips to game the system in your favor!
Tip #1 – Play the field
It’s tempting to start setting up dates as soon as possible if you get a positive match right off the bat. While it’s likely that you’ll hit it off with the first person you match with, understand that even the best dating apps have a low-match-to-date ratio. Some matches may end up ghosting you for whatever reason, while others may lose interest for whatever reason. Play the field and be patient, and have fun chatting while accurately assessing who meets your dating requirements.
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Tip #2 – Don’t be afraid to think outside the box
A common mistake people make when using dating apps is differentiating between the online world and the “real” world. Instead, dating apps can be used for more than matching. For example, if you notice a lot of your matches hang out in certain hotspots, you can spend some time there hoping to run into someone you saw from their profile – plus, you know they’re also looking for love, too.
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Tip #3 – Always pay for a membership/subscription
Dating apps are designed as a profitable business model, so they’re obviously incentivized to give the best results from those who keep them profitable. Because subscriptions and memberships give you exclusive access, paying gives you a competitive advantage that offers more versatile features, a boost in the search algorithm, and gives you more control over who can see your profile. Start with a monthly subscription, then upgrade when you start seeing results. Most apps offer discounts for long-term memberships, so save some money and pay for a couple of months to see the best results.
Tip #4 – Fill out your entire profile
Signed up for an app and just uploaded a picture or two? That’s not enough to really make an impact. Take the process seriously by completing your entire profile, adding the required number of photos, and answering some survey questions from time to time to stay active in the search results.
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Tip #5 – Engage with the app frequently
You’ve gotta be in it to win it, so use every dating app for athletes as often as you can. Enable push notifications and pay attention to matches that you receive from the app throughout the day (many apps let you set it in the background throughout your day). This helps you respond to those who are interested now so you don’t miss out. Responding often also boosts your ranking in most apps’ algorithms, as user engagement is an important metric for determining who are priority users versus casuals.
Lastly, apps that allow you to show your profile as currently online have more success. After all, trading single-response messages back and forth over the course of hours is typically a game plan for failure, as more active users can swoop in and catch their interest before you do.
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Frequently Asked Questions About Athlete Dating Apps
HeartInsider is at your service to answer the most frequently asked questions about dating apps for athletes. Read on to learn more about how these apps work, whether they actually get results, and more.
What are athlete dating sites?
A dating app for athletes is exactly as it sounds: smartphone- and desktop-based applications that enable athletes to find other athletes.
As you’ve read in the considerations we listed in the previous section, the dating world for athletes is often disappointing because of the demands that athletes have on their time and dedication to their sport. Trying to meet someone who isn’t an athlete is possible, but the likelihood that your lives being compatible will be much harder than meeting someone who makes athleticism a priority in their life.
Are athlete dating sites legit?
Yes, most athlete dating sites are 100% legitimate. Of course, your results will vary when it comes to which apps work based on your usage, the size of the active user base, and other factors. Because these apps base their business model on paid subscriptions, you’ll find more success by ponying up some cash to gain access to better features.
Are athlete dating sites safe?
For the most part, these types of dating sites are absolutely safe. However, there is always a sense of risk when putting your personal information online, especially with hackers and social engineers becoming more sophisticated each day. Most popular apps have legitimate security and privacy options, while you may find that some of the less popular and newer apps haven’t prioritized their security yet.
As with dating in general, it helps to properly select who you intend to meet up with. You’ll want to screen for red flags and use your intuition to determine if the person you’re chatting with on the app is real or is a scammer. For your safety, be prepared to block someone or report them if they cross your personal boundaries or seem suspicious. Better safe than sorry.
What are athlete dating sites alternatives?
There are more dating apps out there that focus on more than just an athletic lifestyle. HeartInsider has carefully compiled a list of the best dating apps that have been proven to provide success and a positive user experience. Use this list as a general guide for choosing an app that works for your life and see for yourself just how great your dating life can be!
How do athlete dating sites work?
With the best exception being eHarmony, most dating apps help you find a match by enabling each person to like or swipe on other users’ profiles (eHarmony does the matchmaking for you). The visibility of user profiles is based on highly-selective algorithms that pair you with compatible matches based on the criteria you set in your searches, such as distance, interests, the relationship you’re looking for, and so forth. Once both people match, the conversation starts through texting. Text well, and you can set up a real in-person date.
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