FORT LAUDERDALE — For the moment, forget about gay dating apps like Grindr, Hornet or Jack’d. After reviewing them all, SCRUFF is the clear winner.

Why?

First and foremost, it appeals to males like me who have a niche taste for masculine men in general. Nothing against twinks, fems, fats or trans (they are more than welcome to join the community as well), but bears, otters, geeks, jocks, daddies, soldiers and discreet (straight) guys catch this queer eye.

“The emerging community is rugged, scruffy and inspired by bears,” said SCRUFF founder Johnny Skandros. “But as we became more diverse, we were the first to add a transgender category. But our name is what launched us. It’s everything. But I didn’t expect it to get this big.”

Technically, the app has a sleek, black motif and ultra-modern tools and plenty of socially based filters for connecting with other Americans and even strangers around the world, in places as far off as Brazil, Europe and Russia. The new “Match” feature is brilliant. It enables users to basically alert other app subscribers to the fact that they are the object of one’s desire. Single, partnered, married or curious? It doesn’t matter, as long as you have at least half a brain because from all appearances Scruff attracts a lot of serious professionals, young and old.

SCRUFF made a splash recently when the company decided to buy two large billboards outside the stadium of this year’s Super Bowl game in Arizona. The ads featured two men in a locker room and received a lot of press.

Skandros credits his marketing team of Joey Dube and Cody Haefner for generating the idea for outdoor ads at the venue of what is arguably the most watched television event of the year, at a cost of less than $10,000. In addition to building brand awareness, he claimed the ads produced a sizeable spike in app downloads, especially in the Phoenix area.

“(The idea for the ads) was inspired by all of the gay sports teams we sponsor around the country,” said Skandros, who works out of his office at company headquarters in New York City.

But strategically, where does SCRUFF go from here? Newer niche dating apps for connecting people and tribes are continuing to come online all the time. First movers are likely to move on once too many people climb on the bandwagon of this virtual watering hole. Skandros would not comment on speculation that a video chat app like ooVoo might make sense as a potential partner or even acquisition.

Skandros said the company is focused on expanding its user footprint internationally, by adding more manpower to its existing support staff who currently service foreign-language customers in Arabic, Portuguese, English, Spanish, French, German and Italian, while the app itself has been translated into 16 different languages, including English. A number of international events are planned, including Vancouver on June 13 and later this year, London and Paris.

But while SCRUFF does not make money from events, Skandros claimed attendance does break records when the company gets involved, where one to 3,000 additional people showed up at sponsored U.S.-based events like “Lazy Bear” in Guerneville, California, as well as “Purple” and “TBRU” in Dallas.

“One of our growing pains is trying to understand a global gay community,” said Skandros. “What gays read in Germany, France. Who our competitors are in Australia. It’s a challenge to figure out how to reach the gays. It’s tough.

“But with a staff of 30, we’ve always been global, profitable. Ad revenue does not support our business. We have enough paying members. Most of our profit comes from subscriptions,” he said. Skandros would not reveal how many paying subscribers the company has, however, and where most of them reside, although it’s fair to say that two of the app’s top five markets are the United States and Brazil.

SCRUFF got started back in 2010 when Skandros was approached by his friend and founding partner Eric Silverberg, who wanted to start a dating app and asked Skandros for help. With his background in advertising and marketing, Skandros came up with the brand name. Now, Silverberg handles the technical side of the business, and built the original app in only a month. The “Match” feature was something Silverberg added fairly recently after responding to member feedback.

Another feature that has been a hit with the community is what Skandros calls “Benevolads’ – free, in-app advertising provided to non-profits whose missions are focused on aiding and supporting their respective LGBT communities. So far, 800 different organizations are taking advantage of the service.

“We’ve given away $1 million worth of inventory,” Skandros said.

In the next several months, Skandros said SCRUFF plans to roll out a new travel-related feature that fits into its growth objectives globally.

So what about Florida, which is a huge draw for LGBT visitors from around the world?

“We’re looking at hosting a SCRUFF party in Miami and possibly sponsoring Gay Days in Orlando,” he said.

Sign me up.

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