Touted as “helping to get more out of the activities we love” I did not find this to be the case with the Bvddy app. The app is selling itself as the world’s largest sports matching platform and enables you to expand your network, meet new friends, and even meet locals while traveling. I didn’t meet anyone that shared the activities that I love, and there were no sporting events in my area. There are over 70 sports to choose from to find a Bvddy match and I would have thought that picking 17 of them I would get more results.
Throughout the review period of six weeks there were new people that popped up but those were all about an hour away but that is not useful for me or anyone else in my area. I did have a brief DM conversation initiated by Pedro in Miami, who works for the app, so hardly a new friend. Still in its infancy, the app did not find anyone in my area who shares my interests. So, I reached out to a few friends in some metropolitan areas in Canada and the US and asked them to test it out for me.
Ottawa, Boston, Dallas, San Diego, and NYC all answered my call. While in different geographical areas the results were very similar, no connections, no new friends. For those of us more ‘mature’ users, the common thread was that when they did see someone in a joint sport, the other user was young. While designed for meeting like-minded athletes, and not romantic connections, the general feeling was that seeing a more broad base of ages would be helpful in making connections with athletes of a similar age.
Not a Large Enough User Base
To give you an idea of the overall group consensus about the Bvddy app, one review response I received read: “Largely, the app was filled with empty spaces where gregarious people were supposed to be—and the promise of social interaction was quickly replaced with a sense of void that is often found in our left and right swipe society.”
To help with the sporadic user base there should be some consistent advertising and promotion in the form of hosting sporting activities at local rec centers and gyms to get the word out. I do think there is an opportunity here to get sports enthusiasts connected and involved in games or matches that they may not know about otherwise. Yet, without more broad based promotion, the app will continue to be of little use to millions of amateur athletes.
