Cornhole, as a professional sport, is on the rise. Previously known as a fun backyard, and tailgating party game; cornhole can now be viewed on ESPN as a headlining sport. Before figuring out how Cornhole found its way on to one of the largest media networks in the US; which begs the question what is Cornhole?

A game of precision and accuracy more than anything, sometimes called “Soft Horseshoes”, the object of Cornhole is similar to horseshoes only replace the Iron post with a hole in a board and the horseshoes with beanbags. Boards are placed 27 feet apart, players stand in a “Pitcher’s Box”, a 4 foot by 3 foot box at either end of the court from there bags are thrown at the board on the opposing side of the court. A bag on the board is worth 1 point while a bag tossed slid or knocked into the whole is worth 2 points. The game is played until a player, in singles, or team, in doubles, reaches or exceeds 21 points.

Typically finding a home at summer backyard barbecues and tailgating events, the casual family game gone pro has found a new home on ESPN. Cornhole has actually been airing on ESPN for a couple of years now debuting in 2016 on ESPN3. The sport got a spot on ESPN2 the following year. Then by with some luck, and surely some shrewd negotiations The ACL Pro Invitational on the 4th of July in 2018 was the headline sports event Viewed by 500,000 people. This week the ACL can be found holding their 4th National Tournament of the year in Uncasville, Connecticut. This event can be viewed live on ESPN; Thursday, The 4th of July, on ESPN2 and Friday, July 5th, 2019, on ESPN and ESPN2.

We’ve joined in on all the fun too. At the Taste of Fair Oaks- a local Chamber of Commerce event- we set up cornhole boards and held challenges for awesome prizes, such as a special event jersey, made by our sister company Magic Wear and an electronic dartboard. A local woodworker made our custom hardwood cornhole boards for the event and they turned out beautifully. The event was a blast and it was awesome to bring strangers together for a family fun backyard game. The boards are now for sale in our retail store and we carry extra bags in an array of colors. We plan to set up the boards at our upcoming 30th Anniversary bash, August 9th and 10th. If you happen to be in the area drop by for some family fun and prizes!