Sparks Networks, the parent company of JDate.com, has put itself up for sale, and according to The New York Times, several high-profile buyers have emerged.

Sparks Networks, which owns JDate as well as several other niche dating sites, has attracted attention from Yahoo!, eHarmony, MySpace and IAC, which owns Match.com.

While dating sites have a strong revenue stream from membership fees, the real appeal could be traffic. JDate, the company's flagship site, had 2.4 million unique visitors in November, according to data from comScore. Sparks also owns AmericanSingles, BlackSingles and ChristianMingle.
 
Recently, dating sites have also been seen as a way to inject new life and functionality into social networks. Last month, Match.com inked a deal with Facebook to connect members of both sites.