Johnsonville and American Cornhole League Join Forces to Create Fun Celebrity Event

This past weekend, ESPN aired ESPN 8: The Ocho, which features 43 hours of unique sports programming. One of the sports featured was cornhole, and the American Cornhole League (ACL) teamed up with the sausage company Johnsonville to host Johnsonville SuperHole IV, a celebrity pro-am series with events across the country held this spring and summer. PopCulture.com attended the Johnsonville Superhole IV Championship in Rock Hill, South Carolina and the celebrities and cornhole professionals put on a show. 

The celebrities that took part in the event were actor Shemar Moore, actor Kel Mitchell, UFC star Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson, fitness model Paige Hathaway, Olympic athlete and reality TV star Sanya Richards-Ross, Minnesota Vikings running back Alexander Mattison, Harlem Globetrotters star Crissa Jackson and former Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson. And when it was all said and done, Moore and his professional cornhole partner Trey Burchfield dominated the competition to win the championship. PopCulture spoke to ACL Chief Marketing Officer Trey Ryder before the event, and he revealed that Moore has a cornhole stadium in his backyard. 

“I really have an affirmation for Shemar Moore, with what he’s done,” Ryder said. “He fell in love with cornhole during the pandemic, while him and his production crew for SWAT, they were in the pandemic, they couldn’t do anything. So they had to have group parties where only cast members were allowed, and they played cornhole for hours and hours. And it was, since then he said, ‘I’m taking out the mini golf course in my backyard. I’m putting in this cornhole stadium,’ which he ultimately named Air Mail City. So if you build a backyard called Air Mail City, you’re going to be on my top ones that I’m most looking forward to seeing.”

PopCulture also spoke to Johnsonville, Global Corporate Communications Director Stephanie Schafer who detailed the company’s relationship with the ACL. “Well, we’ve been a partner with the ACL for several years now,” Schafer explained. “I think what’s appealing to the brand is that it is an accessible sport, and it’s also a sport that people play in their backyards when they’re hanging out with their family and friends at barbecues, or at some sports event or tailgating with a sport.”

To promote the event, Johnson, took part in a commercial that shows him changing his name to “Chad Johnsonville.” While that didn’t help him win the event, Schafer loved seeing the NFL legend have some fun while promoting Superhole IV. 

“He’s just a great sport to be a part of this, and I think when we talked to him about the concept, he seemed to jump right all over it, and he did a great job with it,” Schafer said. “It was a lot of fun, and his whole goal with that is also to promote the sport and to promote people to tune in and watch the competition tonight.”

Superhole is a fun way to promote the ACL and the sport of cornhole. And as the league continues to grow, it has some big goals set for the future. “We operate on a five-year plan, it’s all five for us,” Ryder stated. “From the ACL as a league, we’re five years, we’re $5 million that we’d love to be offering a prize pool for our professional players. We’re 50 countries, well on our way to getting the Olympics. That’s an ultimate goal for us.”