Atlantic City’s new team in Major League Cornhole to hold tryouts at Showboat on Saturday and Sunday

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ (April 20, 2023)  – Atlantic City is getting a new pro sports team in a new league: the New Jersey Heroes of Major League Cornhole.

The league has six teams for its inaugural season: the Philadelphia Bell-Ringers, Ohio Rider, Kansas Airmen, Florida Geckos and the Buffalo Brawlers are the others. The Heroes will hold two days of tryouts at the Showboat in Atlantic City this weekend. Tryouts, which cost $100 per person, will run from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday in the Showboat’s Carousel Room, where the hotel has hosted boxing cards over the years.

Participants can choose to try out either day, though some have signed up to try out more than once. For those trying out more than once, their best performance will be considered, with their other one thrown out.

The tryouts are open to men and women 18 and older. Players who make the Heroes will be paid, win or lose, based on their contracts and skill levels, with the opportunity to make as much as $3,000 per month, according to co-owner Rich Lauletta.

The Heroes’ season starts May 6 at home against Buffalo. They will play their home matches in the Showboat’s Bourbon Room, a space that once housed the House of Blues.

The Heroes’ owners are Lauletta, Ralph D’Alessandro and Anthony D’Alessandro. Lauletta lives in Haddonfield but has a summer home in Ventnor. The D’Alessandros, who are cousins, live in Pitman.

This year, the Heroes and the other five teams will each play 14 matches, to be followed by playoffs and championship. Lauletta says the league plans to add eight more teams in 2024 and another eight the following year.

“Most of my ventures so far have been real estate-related,” Lauletta said via email Thursday. “I have been looking for quite some time now to do something new, fun and exciting. And this opportunity came at the perfect time.”

Lauletta says 12 players will make the Heroes’ inaugural team. The Heroes also will hire a coach. Lauletta said players will be paid to play, win or lose, with their pay based on their skill level.

Cornhole is a popular backyard game that is also often played in stadium parking lots before games. Players toss bean bags at an angled board and earn one point for landing them on the board and three for getting them in one of the holes. The first team to 21 points wins.

The Heroes’ weekend event at Showboat also will include a cornhole tournament open to anyone ($40 fee). The tournament is not part of the tryouts, but players can do the tryouts, the tournament or both.

“We just wanted to create exposure to this great new league, help as many local cornhole clubs as we can and have an all-around good time,” Lauletta said.

No pre-registration is necessary for the tryouts or for Sunday’s tournament. Lauletta hopes even people not interested in playing might stop by for a look. Promoting the sport is part of the mission for the Heroes and the start-up league.

“We are … encouraging everyone to come whether they’re going to try out for the team or just want to see what it’s all about and have a day of fun,” he said.

by: Press staff reports

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