Milford, Ohio- July 17, 2018 – Since the first American Cornhole World Championships held in 2005, there have been eleven more held in places all around the United States including Las Vegas, Nevada, Knoxville, Tennessee and Charleston, West Virginia. This year ACO World Championship XIII is taking place this month (24-28) from Montgomery, Alabama with a record purse of $68,000 and will be broadcast live through the recently launched ACO Digital Network at WeAreCornhole.com. The first complete digital broadcast network in the history of the industry that has become the fastest growing sport in the United States.
The ACO continues to lead the fastest growing sports industry in America.
Frank Geers, president, and owner of the American Cornhole Organization, or ACO, has been pushing for more television coverage and took a step in that direction by teaming with ViewLift and launching the ACO Digital Network on July 18th. Initially, live broadcasts were mostly viewed through the thirteen-year-old organization’s live streams on Facebook, but once viewership began surpassing the million-view mark during a weekend tournament on a consistent basis, the ACO team knew it was time to take the next logical step with ViewLift. View Lift and the ACO’s partnership will leverage the NYC outfit’s technology to power the ACO’s digital platforms and bring professional cornhole action and original programming to fans worldwide. This partnership between the ACO and ViewLift will enable the ACO to share OTT content through devices such as Roku, Amazon Fire, and Apple TV, past world championships and classic matches, streaming live broadcasts from Majors, and comprehensive coverage across all digital platforms, including mobile devices through both an Android and iOS app found in the Google Play and iTunes stores respectively. With a client roster that includes the Stanley Cup-winning Washington Capitals, Washington Wizards, Arena Football, and Major League Lacrosse the ACO will be in great company partnered with ViewLift.
“We are incredibly honored to be the American Cornhole Organization’s digital channel partner. Our goal through this partnership is to grow the ACO into the globally recognized leader for cornhole, and to encourage everyone to participate in this fun- loving sport and community.” Offered Manik Bambha, Co-founder & President at ViewLift.
This strategy sets a precedence for the direction of the organization’s marketing efforts. In addition it provides an organic way for players to build a fanbase as the ACO plans to broadcast over 15 Majors next year, a new series called ACO Fight Club that pits the best of the best against each other in a made for TV single elimination match, and Hole Nation which is cornhole’s official news show. These shows are part of a programming lineup that gives fans an exceptional amount of access to the sports top players. Heading up the new network is C.S. Alexander who was recently promoted from Director of Marketing to Executive Director of the network.
“While partnering with a network for our Major and World Championships is our top priority, we have a vision of building onto the online cornhole culture we helped to foster starting over a decade ago. We are repackaging some of our older content and bringing it a little more up-to-date by adding motion graphics and personal player information, new intros, and sponsors. There is thirteen years’ worth of material, so we will be adding new classics quite often to accompany the World Championships from the past decade, our broadcasted Majors from the past and present seasons, and ACO Replay which packages the best match of each Major into its own show.” Alexander went on to add, “With that said, even with the great content from the past, we envision the culture of the backyard player wanting more as the game experiences its meteoric rise in popular culture. We are already in production or preproduction of several shows including Hole Nation which is like Sports Center for cornhole, Cornhole in Backyard America which showcases some of the best backyards that feature cornhole. Cornhole and Cocktails which will showcase some of the best bars in America who make cornhole part of their identity. These are the kind of shows that feature much of what makes cornhole such a great sport because typically when people are playing they have a beer or drink in one hand and socializing between pitches.”
“I like the direction C.S. has us heading,” said Geers. “We want to build around programming that invigorates viewers to want to play more. We want backyard players to start following their favorite professional players, to get ideas of how to make their cornhole experience even more enjoyable from other homeowners just like them, and we want them to feel connected to this wonderful community that has built up around us.” Geers added, “Once they feel that connection then it is just a matter of time before they are playing in a local ACO league. That’s when you know you love the game and you are hooked for life.” Geers continued, “I do want to reiterate that having a broadcast partner for our Majors and World Championship is our main goal and we are in the middle of some very fruitful negotiations, so I would imagine that soon we are going to be exactly where we want to be.
About ViewLift
ViewLift is a full-service digital content distribution platform empowering media companies, sports leagues and teams, education providers and others to monetize their content through native branded apps on major OTT devices including web, mobile, TV- connected devices, Smart TVs, and gaming consoles. ViewLift’s founding team brings
years of domain experience as an operator (not just a technology provider) and strong industry relationships to offer a complete end-to-end solution for creating, launching and monetizing video applications across 30 device platforms. ViewLift operates across the digital ecosystem, understanding each device’s unique requirements and best practices. ViewLift offers clients a range of monetization models on a proprietary platform with advanced analytics, tracking performance in real-time. ViewLift is backed by leading VC firms, including New Enterprise Associates, Comcast Ventures, and Clark Enterprises, as well as tech and media pioneers Ted Leonsis, Steve and Jean Case, Terry Semel, Robert McCormack and others. ViewLift clients include NBCU; TEGNA; Monumental Sports Network; The Great Courses; Lax Sports Network; Major League Lacrosse; Arena Football League; the five owned-and-operated channels of SnagFilms; and others.
About the ACO
The American Cornhole Organization was created by Frank Geers in 2005 to act as a governing authority for the sport of cornhole. Since its inception, the ACO has created uniformed rules that have been adopted by leagues all over the world, produced innovations such as the two-sided slick and stick bags, and fostered hundreds of regional leagues across the United States. This year in season 13 the ACO has experienced unprecedented growth including 20 major tournaments across the country in cities like San Diego, Las Vegas, Indianapolis, and Charlotte and will hold their 13th World Championships July 24-28th in Montgomery, Alabama with purse and prizes of over $68,000. To learn more about the ACO visit AmericanCornhole.com or WeAreCornhole.com to experience the new ACO Digital Network.
Contact: C.S. Alexander American Cornhole Organization 910-547-3874 cs@americancornhole.com