American Cornhole League

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The American Cornhole League (ACL) is one of the sanctioning bodies for the sport of professional cornhole in the United States. [1] Headquartered in Rock Hill, South Carolina, the ACL hosts over 25,000 tournaments per year and has an active player base of over 100,000 players. [2]

Contents

The ACL features a group of professional cornhole players each season that compete on television broadcasts (network partners include ESPN [1] [3] and CBS). [4] These players are referred to as ACL Pros. [5] [6] [7]

The ACL is majority owned by ACL Commissioner Stacey Moore. In 2021, the ACL introduced its first outside investors of Asland Capital Partners and John Thompson III. [8] [9]

History

The American Cornhole League (ACL) was founded in 2015 by Stacey Moore, its current Commissioner. [9] It established a standard bag for competitive play and partnered with manufacturer AllCornhole for licensed cornhole equipment. [10] In 2016 ACL streamed its first competitive event "Championship of Bags" on ESPN3., [8] [11] which began airing in 2017 on ESPN2. [3] [12] In 2019 ACL created the nonprofit USA Cornhole to support the sport's growth with the goal of inclusion in the Olympics. [8] [13] [14]

In 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the ACL aired on ESPN networks for six straight weeks, propelling exponential growth for the league and sport. [4] In 2021, the ACL signed a network contract with CBS Sports, introduced the ACL Pro Shootout Series, and launched the ACL Cornhole TV streaming channel in partnership with Triple-B Media. [5] [15]

Divisions and Skill Levels

As of 2024, ACL sponsors skill-restricted National Pro Tour competitions (including the World Championships in the fall) and unrestricted Open events. Players are able to improve their standings and potentially qualify for Pro competitions by participating in State, Regional, and Local Open events. Skill levels are determined by average Points Per Round (PPG), consisting of Advanced (PPG >= 8), Competitive (PPG 7-8), Intermediate (PPG 6-7), Novice (PPG <6). [16]

Rules and Regulations

The American Cornhole League has specific rules on how they work tournaments. Some of these rules are what kinds of bags and boards that can be used. Both boards and bags have to be stamped with the ACL logo on it to be considered regulation. With having the stamp put on it shows the bags and boards are the right weight and length. In other cases some of the ACL rules can be flawed for example players keeping their own score, this can lead to cheating. To solve the cheating is to have AST keep the scores instead of the players manually keeping it (Overturf). By solving this issue it prevents games and even tournaments from being replayed (Gillespie). The ACL relies on players to be honest with their score but in some cases, the players are not truthful. McCarthy states "Part of the standardization of equipment for the league was rooted in its proprietary ACL Bag Policy which standardized the cornhole bag for competitive play and the league's partnership with AllCornhole for officially licensed ACL Pro cornhole boards”.Another rule is you need an ACL-stamped bag in order to use that bag in an ACL tournament. The reasoning behind the stamp is to make the game as fair as possible so people do not bring in lighter or heavier bags to cheat. Another rule they have is that the boards have to be 27 feet apart from the front of the boards. The boards in the American Cornhole league have to be stamped just like the bags so no one can bring a slow or slick board to tournaments and have an advantage over their competition.

ACL Teams

The ACL Teams division is composed of sixteen teams divided into four regions within two divisions. [17] There are also minor league teams, akin to a farm system in baseball, which each span a few states. [18]

American Division
RegionTeamMinor Team (States)
NorthMichigan MaraudersDetroit Marauders (Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin)
New England WoodchucksBangor Woodchucks (Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont); Boston Woodchucks (Massachusetts), Hartford Woodchucks (Connecticut), Worcester Woodchucks (Rhode Island)
Ohio AviatorsCharleston Aviators (West Virginia), Cincinnati Aviators (Ohio), Cleveland Aviators (Ohio)
Pennsylvania RingersAlbany Ringers (New York), Philadelphia Ringers (Pennsylvania), Syracuse Ringers, Trenton Ringers (New Jersey)
SouthCarolina CoastersHigh Point Coasters (North Carolina), Rock Hill (South Carolina)
Florida FreezePalm Beach Freeze (Florida)
Georgia SlidersSuwanee Sliders (Georgia), Hernando Sliders (Mississippi and Alabama)
Virginia CuttersChesapeake Cutters, Fredericksburg Cutters (Virginia; also Maryland, Delaware and Washington, D.C.)
National Division
RegionTeamMinor Team (States)
Central
Chicagoland SpinnersCook County Spinners (Illinois), New Paris Spinners (Indiana)
Kentucky KernelsMemphis Kernels (Tennessee and Arkansas; also Kentucky)
Missouri MaizeSpringfield Maize (Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma)
Texas Bully BaggersBaton Rouge Bully Baggers (Louisiana), College Station Bully Baggers, Dallas Bully Baggers, Houston Bully Baggers (all Texas)
West
Arizona BurnPhoenix Burn, Tucson Burn (both Arizona andNew Mexico), Salt Lake City Burn (Utah)
Cali SlingersOʻahu Slingers (Hawaiʻi), Sacramento Slingers (California)
Colorado TimberMitchell Timber (The Dakotas; also Colorado, Montana, and Wyoming)
Las Vegas High RollersPortland High Rollers (Oregon), Rainier High Rollers (Washington and Idaho), Reno High Rollers (Nevada); also Alaska

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References

  1. 1 2 Staff, S. V. G. (2020-01-22). "American Cornhole League, ESPN Pen New Multi-Year Deal". Sports Video Group. Retrieved 2022-07-06.
  2. ↑ "The next great Olympic sport? It could be cornhole". ESPN.com. 2021-08-06. Retrieved 2022-07-06.
  3. 1 2 Holloway, Daniel (2020-05-13). "How Smaller, Quirkier Sports Are Stepping in to Fill the Live-Events Void". Variety. Retrieved 2022-07-06.
  4. 1 2 Staff, S. V. G. (2020-12-07). "American Cornhole League Inks Multi-Year TV Deal With CBS Sports". Sports Video Group. Retrieved 2022-07-06.
  5. 1 2 Frye, Andy. "Sports Fans, Are You Ready For Some Pro Cornhole?". Forbes. Retrieved 2022-07-06.
  6. ↑ Murphy, Jen (2020-02-02). "He Really, Really Wants to Win at Cornhole". Wall Street Journal. ISSN   0099-9660 . Retrieved 2022-07-06.
  7. ↑ Addicted1 (2019-06-09). "Meet the ACL Pros | 325 Pro Players | Cornhole Addicts". www.cornholeaddicts.com. Retrieved 2022-07-06.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  8. 1 2 3 "Perfect Pitch: How American Cornhole League landed investors and consumers". www.sportsbusinessjournal.com. 11 April 2022. Retrieved 2022-07-15.
  9. 1 2 Coffey, Brendan (2021-09-14). "Cornhole League Shooting for Olympics as John Thompson III Leads VC Round". Sportico.com. Retrieved 2022-07-15.
  10. ↑ Addicted1 (2021-07-08). "ACL Bag Policy | Bring Bags To Battle | Cornhole Addicts". www.cornholeaddicts.com. Retrieved 2022-07-29.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  11. ↑ "American Cornhole League". iplaycornhole.com. Retrieved 2022-07-29.
  12. ↑ Staff, S. V. G. (2020-01-22). "American Cornhole League, ESPN Pen New Multi-Year Deal". Sports Video Group. Retrieved 2022-07-29.
  13. ↑ "The next great Olympic sport? It could be cornhole". ESPN. 2021-08-06. Retrieved 2022-07-29.
  14. ↑ Roberts, Andrea Suozzo, Alec Glassford, Ash Ngu, Brandon (2013-05-09). "Usa Cornhole Inc - Nonprofit Explorer". ProPublica. Retrieved 2024-12-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  15. ↑ "American Cornhole League".
  16. ↑ "American Cornhole League". iplaycornhole.com. Retrieved 2022-07-29.
  17. ↑ "ACL Teams" . Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  18. ↑ "Minor League ACL Teams" . Retrieved 5 July 2024.
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