There’s a new national league on the cornhole map. The United Cornhole League (UCL) throws its first bag on January 22, 2027, at Harrah’s Resort Southern California, and its pitch is simple: your local play should count, even if you can’t travel to a big event every weekend.
The United Cornhole League is built on six regional conferences, sanctioned local events that feed official rankings, and a path from your Tuesday night club all the way to Pro status. Here’s everything players, directors and bag buyers need to know before the inaugural season starts.
Why the United Cornhole League exists
The United Cornhole League was founded to make local results matter. Every sanctioned local event you play while you hold a membership builds your official conference ranking, and the top players in each conference earn a path to the United Cornhole League Championship and Pro status.
It’s also open by design. You don’t have to leave another league to join, the game is played by the rules you already know, and divisions are set by Scoreholio ratings instead of handicaps. Local directors keep their own clubs, entry fees and sponsors.
The six UCL conferences
Your home conference is set by the state you live in. Conference standings only include events in your home conference, so this is where most players will build their season.
| Conference | States |
|---|---|
| Atlantic | CT, DC, DE, MA, MD, ME, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VA, VT, WV |
| Southeast | AL, FL, GA, MS, NC, SC, TN |
| Central | IA, IL, IN, KY, MI, MN, MO, OH, WI |
| Southwest | AR, LA, NM, OK, TX |
| Mountain | CO, ID, KS, MT, ND, NE, SD, UT, WY |
| Pacific | AK, AZ, CA, HI, NV, OR, WA |
Move to a state in another conference and you can switch mid-season, but the points you earned stay behind in your old conference.
UCL membership options
There are three ways to join, and juniors play free. Each membership covers one season.
| Membership | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Conference | $49.99 / season | Official conference ranking, points from home-conference events, path to the UCL Championship |
| National | $99.99 / season | Everything in Conference, plus a national ranking, points from events in any conference, and the Pro qualification pathway |
| Junior (UCL NEXT) | Free | National benefits for players under 18, junior skill tiers and a path to the Junior Pro cards |
You can still play United Cornhole League Local events without a membership, but you won’t earn points and can’t enter Conference events or above. Conference members can upgrade to National anytime by paying the difference. Heads up: a 2027 inaugural membership ends June 30, 2027, and the first full season (starting September 1, 2027) needs a new one.
How UCL points and rankings work
Your points for a United Cornhole League event are your finish points multiplied by the event level. Only your best results count, so you can play as often as you like without being punished for an off night.
| Event level | Multiplier | Example: 3rd place (86 pts) |
|---|---|---|
| Local event | x1 | 86 |
| Conference Signature Event | x3 | 258 |
| Conference Championship | x5 | 430 |
A win is worth 100 finish points, 2nd is 92, 3rd is 86, and it scales down from there. A Local event needs at least 6 players or teams to award full points.
- Conference standings use your best 24 Local results, best 4 Signature Event results and your Conference Championship result.
- National standings (National members only) use your best 10 results from any conference, with no more than 5 Local.
- Singles and doubles are ranked separately. Only singles counts toward Pro.
- Standings update every Monday, with directors submitting results in Scoreholio within 48 hours.
The full points table and tie-breakers are on the United Cornhole League’s Points & Rankings page.
Divisions and the road to UCL Pro
Amateur divisions are set by your Scoreholio points per round (PPR) over the last 120 days. You can play up, but not down.
| Division | PPR |
|---|---|
| Open | 8.5+ |
| Competitive | 7.5 to 8.49 |
| Intermediate | 6.5 to 7.49 |
| Novice | Below 6.5 |
Pro status is earned, not bought. The United Cornhole League has four Pro divisions: Pro (84 players), Women’s Pro (32), Senior Pro (24, ages 55+) and Junior Pro (24, the “NEXT 24”). You need a National membership to chase a card.
There are no Pro divisions during the 2027 inaugural season. Instead, the first Pros qualify through singles at the six 2027 Signature Events, with your best 4 results counting. The top 84 in Open singles, top 32 women, top 24 seniors and top 24 juniors earn cards for 2027–28.
After that, the top 75% of each Pro division keep their cards each season. The bottom 25% face twice as many top non-Pros in Pro qualifiers for the open spots.
What bags can you throw in the UCL?
Good news if you already own stamped sets: through August 31, 2027, any regulation bag with an ACL, ACO or TCL stamp is legal at UCL events. You don’t need to buy anything new to play the inaugural season.
Starting September 1, 2027, conference-run events will require UCL-stamped bags from the league’s Approved Bag List. The United Cornhole League says that stamp is open to every licensed manufacturer.
The league’s first Official National Manufacturers are Brotherhood Cornhole, BG Cornhole, AAR Cornhole, Lucky Bags Cornhole, Ultra Cornhole and Reynolds Bags. UCL-stamped sets from these brands are listed as coming soon. Both overhand and underhand throws are allowed.
2027 inaugural season schedule
The inaugural season runs January 1 to June 30, 2027, with six Conference Signature Events. Signature Events are worth three times the points of a Local event and have brackets for every skill level. Three are announced so far:
| Dates | Event | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| Jan 22–24, 2027 | Signature Event #1, Southern California | Harrah’s Resort Southern California, Funner, CA |
| Feb 2027 (TBA) | Signature Event #2, Mesa, Arizona | Dink & Dine Pickle Park, Mesa, AZ |
| Mar 26–28, 2027 | Signature Event #3, Louisville, Kentucky | Mid America Sports Complex, Louisville, KY |
In the inaugural season, playing any one of the six Signature Events is enough to appear in final conference standings. The first full season starts September 1, 2027, with Signature Events in all six conferences. Check the UCL events page for the latest dates.
Who’s behind the UCL?
The United Cornhole League was founded by four people with deep roots in competitive cornhole and business. The league itself is based in Moorpark, California.
- Brent Loghry, Founder & President: retired U.S. Marine with 20 years of service, co-founder and owner of Brotherhood Cornhole, former ACL Regional Director, and owner of the Cali Slingers pro team.
- Richard Buchalter, Founder & CEO: longtime entrepreneur with experience across sales, entertainment and sports, and former co-owner of the Arizona Burn pro team.
- Phillip Celani, Founder & CFO: finance executive and founder of the California Cornhole League, the West Coast’s largest league with 35+ clubs.
- Mark Lopez, Founder & Head of Player Operations: six-year ACL pro, three-time California State Champion and co-owner of the Arizona Burn, who helped assemble the first all-female pro cornhole team.
For tournament directors
If you run a club or league, the United Cornhole League is built to plug into what you already do. There’s no fee to become a director, and you can keep running events for other leagues.
- Keep your club name, local entry fees and local sponsors.
- Earn 10% of every membership you sell (junior memberships are free and earn no commission).
- Results run through Scoreholio, which you’ll need an organizer account for.
Applications are accepted year-round on the UCL Directors page, and the league says it decides within 7 days.
The bottom line
The United Cornhole League is betting that the heart of cornhole is the local club, not the weekend road trip. If your weekly league joins as a sanctioned United Cornhole League event, every bag you throw there can build toward a conference title, a Championship invite, and maybe a Pro card. Whether it catches on will depend on how many clubs and directors sign up in year one, so it’s worth asking your local director if they plan to join.
Wherever you compete, your gear still matters. Find a set that fits your throw in our dual-sided cornhole bags, practice on pro cornhole boards, sharpen your game with The Cornhole Fix, and look for a league near you in our Cornhole Club Finder.
