Should Cornhole be a Professional Sport?
For years, people have debated whether cornhole should be a professional sport. On the surface, it seems to have all the trappings of an activity that deserves to be on ESPN, but whether it qualifies as such is still a matter of contention.
The Definition Of A Sport
Naturally, the first thing to do is to define what exactly a sport is.
The dictionary defines a sport as an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.
Sport: An activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment
At first glance, it seems like a robust definition for traditional sports such as football or tennis. However, things become a little murkier when you consider alternative so-called “sports,” such as chess or darts and for some people out there cornhole.
There are several things we need to touch on to really answer if cornhole should be a professional sport but first, what the heck is it?
What Is Cornhole?
If you didn’t grow up tailgating in the midwest, cornhole might be a mystery. Not to worry, we will break it down for you right now in a conveniently numbered list – for a more in-depth look at the rules of cornhole, click the button below.
- Cornhole is as sport in which participants throw “corn-filled” bags at wooden “cornhole boards,” measuring two-feet wide by four-feet long with a six-inch hole in the middle.
- The idea is to score as many points as possible during your turn. The winner is the player who is first to reach 21.
- If you throw your bag through the six-inch hole, you get three points. If your bag lands on the board or hangs from the edge without touching the ground, you get one point. Bags on the ground get zero points.
- The opposing player can use their bags to knock yours off the board, cutting your points tally. In cornhole, scoring cancels out, so if one team scores three points and then the other does, then both teams go back to zero.
Cornhole is a Professional Sport
Cornhole, has all of the makings of a professional sport. It is physical activity, is done for entertainment, and teams compete against each other to win prize money on TV – what else could you possibly need?
In addition to that, the American Cornhole Association regulates it by setting rules for various tournaments and deciding on prize money amounts. It also lists singles and doubles rankings on its website, depending on their performance.
Despite all this, however, cornhole doesn’t attract the same kind of money as, say, professional basketball or football. The top prize for coming in first place in a recognized competition is around $750, with second place picking up $500 and third and fourth both getting just $225 each.
Not to worry folks, we know this seems bleak for cornhole enthusiasts like yourself, but some of the top professional players are pulling around $60,000 per year. If you want to learn about how to become a professional cornhole player, click here.
If professional cornhole really starts to take off, then there’s a good chance that sponsorship deals and bigger audiences would bring more money to the sport. With that said, more money might lead to more corruption, as we’ve seen elsewhere but who knows?
Anyway, the consensus is that cornhole is a professional sport and is well-deserving of the title. Woohoo!
Now, you may feel an urge to play cornhole right now and that is normal. Click below to order your cornhole board and you can play whenever you want!
