Overview The American Cornhole League runs the backyard bag toss as a televised pro tour on ESPN and CBS, and it cites a 2023 Ipsos survey that put cornhole ahead of bowling, swimming and golf as the most-played sport in America. Beneath the pros it sanctions more than 25,000 tournaments a year. The season runs from October to July through three levels of event - Interstate events, Opens and Signature Opens - and closes at the World Championships in Rock Hill, South Carolina, where the league is based. Its motto is "Anyone Can Play, Anyone Can Win," and amateurs play the same weekends as the pros. Stacey Moore founded it in 2015. On site A Signature Open takes over a convention center or sports hall for a weekend. Cleveland's in April 2026 put more than 400 registered players and 10 pro teams in the Huntington Convention Center, with amateur Open brackets, ACL Pro Teams matches and pro senior and junior divisions running side by side under ACL officials. The pro stage is a lit court with LED boards along the front of banked seats. The World Championships run a week in the 170,000-square-foot Rock Hill Sports and Event Center; in 2026 that meant more than 50 events for over $800,000 in guaranteed payouts, limited courtside seating for the televised finals, sit-and-go blind draws open to spectators and a full bar. Audience Most people in the building came to throw. Amateur divisions run by points-per-game rating from novice to advanced, military and first responders have their own USA Forces doubles event, and high school and college players decide national championships inside the Opens. In the pro stands the league's own photos show fans in cornhole-brand shirts and ball caps, holding up sponsors' printed signs at the televised matches. Talent and Influencers Men and women play in the same pro singles bracket. Cheyenne Bubenheim turned pro in 2019, won three women's singles and three women's doubles world titles, earned $90,000 in prize money in 2022, and in 2024 was the top-rated woman in the league and 22nd overall; the ACL then counted about 200 male and 32 female pros. Forbes profiled her as the highest-paid woman in the sport. Track record The league's deck reports what partners got. Johnsonville saw a 3% lift in dinner link sales at stores in an ACL retail campaign and 0.5% in total sales, and in its first year as a sponsor drew more Google searches in the 24 hours after its July 4th event than in the whole prior year. A Nielsen valuation credited Bush's Baked Beans with 10 times its investment in media value in two of its three years. Pit Boss sweepstakes passed 100,000 entries, Corn Nuts and Seagram's handed out more than 10,000 samples over 18 months, and Miller's Ale House counted more than 1,000 extra customers a day in one summer of ACL events. Brand presence An official partner runs across the season: televised Signature Opens, streamed Open events and a custom six-month social campaign. The 2026 package put partners into 36 hours of national TV across ESPN, CBS and CBS Sports Network and more than 30 hours of streaming on ESPN+, YouTube, TikTok and the league's own ACL Cornhole TV, with activations in the fan zones. The league says 92% of its sponsors appear on its broadcasts. Bags and boards must carry the ACL stamp to be legal for sanctioned play, and licensed gear sells at Academy Sports and Outdoors and Dick's Sporting Goods.