Cornhole, once a backyard game confined mainly to the United States, has evolved into a structured and competitive sport with a growing international following. This transformation has been largely fueled by leading organizations, equipment advancements, and event expansions that have helped the game transcend its informal beginnings. One of the most influential organizations contributing to this growth is the American Cornhole Organization (ACO). Since its inception, the ACO has played a key role in formalizing the sport, introducing innovations, and expanding its reach beyond U.S. borders. With the launch of international tournaments, innovative equipment modifications, and partnerships that aim to foster inclusivity, the ACO has positioned itself as a significant player in cornhole’s global evolution.
Expanding Cornhole Beyond U.S. Borders
The ACO has been at the forefront of the global growth of cornhole. In 2024, the organization hosted its inaugural Major ACO Europe in Manchester, UK, which marked an important step toward bringing the sport outside North America. The event featured world-class players, introducing new fans to competitive cornhole while helping solidify ACO as the sport’s global ambassador. The success of the tournament has set the stage for international expansion, with future tournaments expected to leave a lasting impression on Europe and the world.
Yet another move toward making cornhole a global competitor, the ACO expanded internationally with the announcement of its first-ever ACO Canada Major, held in September of 2025 in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. This move aims to develop competitive cornhole in new areas, offering more global players access to pro-level play. With the investment in global growth, the ACO has played an instrumental role in developing cornhole as a potentially international sport.
Additionally, the ACO has recently expanded its cornhole network into India, with a contingent of players set to participate in the ACO World Championships in Tulsa in July 2025. This marks another important step in increasing cornhole’s presence on the international stage, allowing more players from diverse backgrounds to experience and compete at the highest levels of the sport.
Game-Changing Innovations in Equipment
Advances in technology have significantly contributed to the development of cornhole equipment. Of all the advances, the most notable was the shift from the original corn-filled bag to the resin-filled bag, which the ACO first introduced in 2006. This advancement addressed issues of inconsistent weight, mold, and bag degradation, professionalizing and simplifying the game. ACO-standardized resin-filled bags helped establish consistency in competitive play, making the sport more skill-based.
In 2008, the ACO launched an innovation: the PlayersChoice Cornhole Bag. Featuring a double-sided playing surface—one smooth for velocity and the other tacky for grip—this innovation enabled players to manage their shots and strategy with greater effectiveness. The release of such specific bags contributed to cornhole’s transformation from a recreational to a precise competitive sport. These innovations also stimulated commercial spin-offs, creating a multimillion-dollar market around professional-grade cornhole bags and equipment. Now, businesses worldwide design high-performance bags for different play styles, further cementing the sport as respectable at the amateur and professional levels.
Expanding Competitive Formats and Event Offerings
In addition to equipment innovation, the ACO has also diversified and expanded its competitive formats. With the introduction of ACO Skins, a new style of play intended to maximize spectator appeal and make the game more exciting, a new scoring system for cornhole was introduced, focusing on high-stakes rounds and raising the level of strategy complexity in matches. By diversifying competition styles, the ACO has helped improve the sport’s appeal to both seasoned players and newcomers.
The ACO has also introduced junior events to its schedule by partnering with the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU). The event led to the inaugural ACO/AAU Junior World Championships, which took place in Owensboro, Kentucky. The intention was to cultivate future stars and give the next generation of competitive cornhole players a chance to refine their skills on a professional stage. Incorporating the junior events is an effort to support the sport’s future development and longevity.
Promoting Inclusivity Through Adaptive Cornhole
One of the ACO’s recent efforts has been increasing inclusivity through Adaptive Cornhole. In 2023, the organization launched Adaptive Cornhole at the Buffalo Major, allowing players with disabilities to play in a structured environment. This move demonstrated the ACO’s commitment to creating cornhole as an inclusive sport, so that players of varying abilities can compete at competitive levels.
Adding Adaptive Cornhole to upper-level tournaments showed the flexibility of the organization to meet the diverse needs of the world of cornhole. By recognizing and offering solutions to issues of accessibility, the American Cornhole Organization has helped increase the sport’s popularity among the masses, with its focus on establishing a more inclusive and diversified competitive landscape.
The ACO’s Role in Cornhole’s Ongoing Evolution
Cornhole’s growth from a pastime activity to an internationally known competitive sport has been fueled by disciplined governance, measured expansion, and ongoing innovation. The ACO has been central to this growth through regulation of gameplay, innovation in equipment design, and increased opportunities to compete at tournaments both nationally and internationally. Establishing professional-quality bags, accommodations for game structure, and foreign competitions has set the organization apart as a leading driver of cornhole’s modern growth.
ACO’s founder Frank Geers, also known as “The Cornhole Dude,” has overseen much of that expansion, leading the organization as it shifted to accommodate the changing nature of professional cornhole. Through his leadership, the ACO has contributed significantly to the growth of cornhole as an international sport with lasting influence.
