Amanda Bradford, who led The League from its founding through its acquisition by Match Group, has officially stepped away following the expiration of her non‑compete agreement. In a LinkedIn update, Bradford shared that after more than a decade at the helm, she has exited Match Group and is once again a “free agent” in her own words.
Bradford’s tenure at The League involved significant achievements: scaling from a modest cohort of 419 early adopters in San Francisco to a flourishing company with $15 million in annual recurring revenue, $6 million in EBITDA, and 300,000 monthly active users. This was all while operating across 155 cities, funded on a modest $2.3 million seed round. Her leadership propelled the startup into a successful partnership with Match Group beginning in 2022, enabling The League to coexist alongside scaled platforms with significantly larger resources.
Post-acquisition, Bradford expanded her role beyond CEO to also function as CMO and CPO, spearheading a multimillion-dollar brand campaign that earned an Obie Award. She also played a key role in integrating The League into Match Group’s ecosystem, including building cross‑app upsell strategies and introducing industry-leading safety measures from Tinder’s operations.
Her departure marks the end of a foundational chapter at The League, and likely places it fully in the hands of Match Group’s own handpicked replacement for the role. Given The League’s focus on selective and high-quality matches, there’s always a chance that the platform will see a slight shift in how it’s handled once somebody new steps into the role, but Bradford insists that she only left once she knew the platform was in “good hands”.
