American Cornhole League brings economic growth to Myrtle Beach

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WBTW) — Hundreds of cornhole players from across the country have traveled to Myrtle Beach for the American Cornhole League College and High School Championships.

The competition kicked off Thursday and runs through Sunday.

The National Cornhole Championship crowns the best collegiate and high school players and teams from across the country. The collegiate players have the opportunity to win scholarship money, and the high school players win money for their schools and athletic departments to develop cornhole programs within their districts.

More than $50,000 in cash payouts will be given throughout the weekend.

“I love the consistency of it,” said Lenae Rhone, a collegiate player from Oklahoma State University. “Whenever you throw a bag, you know that it’s just going to be perfect, like you know it. It’s going to hit where you want and do what you want. It’s just satisfying because you put so much work into it and you think so much about it. Whenever you get the bag to move how you want it to move or like an airmail or a roll, it’s just like your hard work pays off.”

Rhone is just one of more than 100 players who will be competing in this year’s individual collegiate championship.

The league championship has been here in Myrtle Beach for four years. Since then, the event has grown with the addition of the high school championship and two other professional events.

With the added events, the city is expecting a larger economic benefit.

“Last year’s event brought in — it was estimated around $475,000 in economic impact to the community,” said Jonathan Paris, the executive director of sports tourism for Myrtle Beach. “I would assume this year is similar, if not higher just because we’ve got more participants. We’ve got high school kids and high school kids typically travel with parents.”

The American Cornhole League was founded in 2016, but it has continued to grow with both participants and its fan base.

“We were fortunate to be the first live sport back on television during the pandemic,” said Stacey Moore, the founder and commissioner of the ACL. “It was a big boost for us being able to do multiple events weekend after weekend. It brought us a whole lot of new fans.”

The ACL is no stranger to South Carolina. Its headquarters is in Rock Hill. The league decided that the perfect place to host the championship is right here at the beach.

“The destination really sells itself, I mean it’s a great place,” Paris said. “It’s typically pretty affordable. There are tons of lodging, tons of attractions, tons of restaurants, there’s everything you need to do, so we really set up well. You combine all those things, having great facilities, having sort of a great hospitality community, and then having a real concerted effort on it.”

Cornhole players said they’re excited to make the trip to the beach and have an exciting place to begin the new year with a fresh start.

“New Year’s is a great time to be in Myrtle Beach,” Moore said. “It’s a great place for families to come and celebrate the new year, and why not play some cornhole at the same time?”

The competition will be broadcast at 5 p.m. Friday on ESPN.