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Ask a European what cornhole is and you might get some fretting faces.
But for Americans, cornhole is as traditional as apple pie and grilling on the fourth of July. To get more insight into the burgeoning professional sport, I spoke with Trey Ryder, Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) from the American Cornhole League (ACL).
What is cornhole & what does its name stand for?
First thing’s first – what is cornhole?
Cornhole, sometimes called sack toss or bags, is a popular game in North America. To play, teams or players take turns throwing fabric bean bags at a raised, angled board with a hole at the far end. The aim is to score points by either landing a bag on the board for one point, or putting it through the hole for three points. Pretty simple right?
The name “Cornhole” comes from the game’s objective of throwing a bag filled with corn kernels into a 6-inch hole cut into a slanted platform.
Incredibly enough, Wikipedia also links to a patent application for the cornhole board itself (check it out below), which goes all the way back to 1883, which is simply staggering.
The ACL’s growth
The American Cornhole League (ACL) is the sanctioning body for the sport of professional cornhole in the US. With over 25,000 tournaments per year and a player base of over 150,000, the ACL is the only game in town when it comes world of professional cornhole.
The ACL Pros, referred to as the league’s professional players, compete in television broadcasts with ESPN and CBS as network partners.
But how has the ACL taken on the mantle of professionalizing the game?
Trey tells it like this.
“Our Commissioner, Stacey Moore, has always had a passion for the culture of tailgating. Back in the early 2010’s, he created a brand called the American Tailgating League which put together events that offered competitions centered around your favorite tailgating games including ladder golf, cornhole, and beer pong.”
“After a few years of these events, Stacey quickly realized that cornhole was taken more seriously than any of the other events and that there was a base of players just craving for more cornhole competition. So in 2015, he rebranded the ATL to the ACL and began building what we now call the American Cornhole League.”
From this beginning, the ACL’s success to date speaks for itself.
“With our 2021-2022 ACL season coming to a close, we ran approximately 25,000 tournaments spread across the world for a database of active players of just over 150,000, with a total prize purse of just over $5M. There are 256 ACL Pros and they competed this year for an exclusive prize pool of $1.2 million.”
“Growth has been unbelievable. Since 2019, we have seen a 50% increase in active players, over a 100% increase in total television broadcasts, a 450% increase in social media impressions, a 50% increase in tournaments played, and a 400% increase in prize money awarded,” says Trey.
Why accessibility is such a key feature of the sport
The sport has some distinct advantages also. It is easy and accessible and cheap to get started, and an apt comparison for me is darts (experiencing phenomenal growth).
Trey delves into this further.
“Our tagline is ‘anyone can play, anyone can win’ for a reason.”
“We believe that cornhole’s relatability and accessibility drive the growth of players competing in cornhole at a competitive level. Our top players in the country feature women, pre-teens, seniors, former athletes, and average joes competing at an extremely high level. These top players become role models to their own specific demographics.”
“If you add the ease of accessibility to equipment and places to play, it becomes something that can spread like wildfire. Similar to some of the world’s most popular sports, the cost of playing cornhole is low, and it can be played essentially anywhere at anytime.”
How big could professional cornhole get?
A key point mentioned is the impact broadcast media has had on the growth of the sport to date, powered by CBS and ESPN broadcasting the sport far and wide to a US audience.
“It’s honestly difficult to put into perspective,” Trey says. “The biggest effect that the ESPN and CBS deals have had would be the reach to the non-cornhole fan. Three years ago, when people saw cornhole on TV, they were confused.”
“Now when they see it, they are leaning over to their friend and telling them they love when they put cornhole on the big screen. Our social media has grown a core cornhole community, but the TV broadcasts have given us an opportunity to showcase our sport to those who are new to the sport, and definitely new to the ACL.”
Building on this great foundation is critical for the ACL also.
Trey details the organization’s five-year plan.
“Our 5 year plan is all 5s: 500,000 active players in our database with a continued focus on domestic growth, especially in untapped areas here in the US.”
“$5M prize pool just for our ACL Pros, we want to see all of our pros become full time professional athletes earning livable wages.”
“50 countries, we are laying the foundation for cornhole to be in the 2032 Summer Olympics.”
“We have a long way to go but have already made great strides to get there,” he concludes.
Given the incredible growth to date, you wouldn’t put it past the ACL, pulling all five of these major objectives off.
