American Cornhole League World Championships return to Rock Hill next month

The American Cornhole League’s World Championships will return to Rock Hill next month with more than $800,000 in prize money and a national television spotlight, a combination that shows how far the sport has pushed into the mainstream. The season-ending championship event will run July 27-Aug. 2 at the Rock Hill Sports & Event Center, putting York County back at the center of cornhole’s biggest week.

Rock Hill has become a reliable home for that stage because the venue was built for scale. The city describes the Rock Hill Sports & Event Center as a 170,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility in the Knowledge Park district, part of a mixed-use site that ties Winthrop University to Old Town Rock Hill, restaurants, outdoor venues, office space and apartments. That setup gives the ACL room to run a championship week and gives fans, players and sponsors a place that feels less like a pop-up tournament and more like a permanent sports destination.

This year’s schedule is sprawling by design. The championship week includes more than 50 competitions, with singles and doubles divisions for every age and skill level, plus the marquee finals for ACL Pro Teams, Pro Singles and Pro Doubles. The league will also stage sit-and-go blind draw tournaments at headquarters inside the facility, adding another layer of action for competitors who want to keep throwing between the main brackets.

The broadcast footprint tells its own story. Fans will be able to follow the championships on ESPN, ESPN+ and ACL channels on Facebook, YouTube and TikTok, a sign that cornhole is no longer treating its biggest event like a niche exhibition. The City of Rock Hill has called the ACL World Championships one of its top economic-impact drivers, and with good reason: the event pulls hotel nights, restaurant traffic and steady footfall into a part of the city that is increasingly built around sports, entertainment and mixed-use growth.

Rock Hill already proved it can handle the load. The 2024 World Championships drew about 2,000 players and paid out more than $700,000 across 30 events, while 2025 coverage projected more than 30 tournaments, more than $700,000 in prize money and more than 10,000 fans and competitors. With the ACL headquartered in Rock Hill and operating tournaments, league play, open play and studio content from its local base, this is more than a once-a-year visit. It is the city’s claim on cornhole’s center of gravity.