Recent data claims 57 million people user Tinder around the world, so there’s no shortage of potential matches in your area! But with 1,000 Brits searching for ‘no matches on Tinder’* each month, it begs the question: why are so many of us are struggling to find love?

In a recent study from the GolfSupport team, we sought to find out what the biggest online dating turn-offs are, and whether wearing a specific sports kit in your profile picture could bag you a date!

The study

To find out which sports kits are most attractive to Tinder users, we created 12 separate profiles using the same details, but with one difference: the sports kit was changed for each profile**.

After 300 right swipes were made on each of the 12 accounts, we waited three days to see who swiped back to find out whether wearing a certain sports kit provides more Tinder matches than others.

Which sports kit gets the most Tinder matches?

The results of our study can reveal that the sport getting hearts racing the most is rugby. Of 300 right swipes, 208 of those were returned and matched. It seems the appeal of the rugby hunk and their outfits remains strong.

In close second is football, with 13 less matches than rugby. It seems wearing a football kit in your profile picture means a lot when it comes to the game of love, as 195 of those 300 swipes reciprocated them.

Golf places in third place, with 168 matches out of a possible 300, proving that the smart and fashion-forward golf clothing worn by golfers is a hit with the ladies.

In fourth place is gymnastics with 165 right swipes, followed by:

• Netball (159)
• American football (140)
• Athletics (137)
• Badminton/Tennis (120)
• Basketball (114)
• Cycling (70)
• Rowing (57)

We can reveal that cricket is the least appealing to Tinder users. Whether it’s the cricket whites or official team outfits ruining their chances, these kits just aren’t floating the boat of singletons looking for love as only 49 profiles swiped back - a difference of 159 from rugby in first place!

What are Brits’ biggest dating app turn-offs?

Alongside what appeals to singletons, GolfSupport were interested to see what turns Brits off the most. We surveyed 1,247 Tinder users in the UK to see which aspects of user profiles seals the deal (and what doesn't) when looking for the perfect match.

When asked if they’d ever matched with someone wearing a sports outfit in their profile picture, over half (57%) of Brits stated yes, compared with 23% who hadn’t (20% couldn’t remember).

We found that the team or sport you enjoy also affects your chances at securing a date, as half of Tinder users (51%) said they'd happily swipe right to someone who supported a different team or followed a different sport. Just over a third (36%) stated they wouldn't - to put that into context, that means you'll receive around 108 right swipes out of a possible 300!

Further to this, our research can reveal that if you state your favourite sports team in your bio, 68% of Brits are turned off!

More dating app turn-offs include...

Please note:

*According to recent search volume data from Ahrefs.
**Each kit was carefully Photoshopped, to ensure all profiles were believable and the experiment wasn’t compromised.
***Survey was conducted between 10/08/20 – 24/08/20

Feature image credit: Tero Vesalainen / Shutterstock