- The League is one of the more selective dating apps out there.
- This summer, The League is hosting a cruise in France. About 80 of its users will attend — and hopefully, find love.
- Dating apps are increasingly offering "offline" events.
At least one representative from The League is calling it "the death of the first date."
"A lot of our users on the app are saying that they're really sick of the first date," said Brianna Haag, The League's head of events and partnerships. "People want different types of experiences. They don't want the interview plus cocktail at a bar."
To that end, this August, dating app The League is hosting a weeklong cruise in France, in conjunction with U by Uniworld. About 80 users will mix and mingle in the hopes of finding love; the itinerary includes touring the Palace of Versailles and biking along the Seine (sigh).
So far, nearly 2,600 League users have applied, the company said. Depending on the type of accommodations you choose, the price of a flight and a room is around $3,000.
This isn't The League's first foray into "offline" events. Earlier this year, the company hosted two ski weeks in Telluride and Vail, Colorado. According to The League, two relationships (that are still intact) resulted from each ski trip.
In-person events are becoming a trend among dating apps
The League is known for its selectivity: To join the app, you have to submit your LinkedIn profile for verification and get vetted. (The app's motto is "date intelligently.") As for the cruise, The League says the guest list is carefully curated to maximize the chance of romance blossoming.
Everyone's preferences for a date should be "loosely" met, said Meredith Davis, head of the communications at The League. (Apparently, multiple 21-year-old men applied for the trip, but were turned down because the women attending prefer men who are older than that.) Guests will also have similar interests, as listed on their profiles.
The League isn't the only dating app to expand into offline events. For example, Business Insider's Tanya Dua recently attended a weekend-long "sleep-away camp for singles" hosted by Coffee Meets Bagel. It could be a sign that apps are starting to recognize people's growing fatigue with online dating — and making sure they don't lose their user base.
As for those who don't succeed in finding The One during the week on the boat, fear not. On the last night of the trip, The League is hosting a party to celebrate their plans to launch in Paris in September. Many new League users will be there.
Should the cruise guests be prepared to navigate a long-distance relationship with a Parisian?
As Davis said, "You never know."