As of 2018[update], it had more than 165,000 members.
A not-for-profit organization, the ACBL was founded on December 23, 1937 in New York City and later moved its company headquarters to Greenwich, Connecticut, then to Memphis, Tennessee in 1971 and to Horn Lake, Mississippi in 2010. It has a full-time staff of about 60 employees in Horn Lake, plus about 160 tournament directors throughout the country. The headquarters also houses the League's Museum, Library and League's Hall of Fame.
Three times a year, in the spring, summer, and fall, the ACBL holds the North American Bridge Championships (NABC) using the duplicate bridge method of scoring, which greatly reduces the element of luck in competition. The NABC typically extends over eleven days and includes many different events. The location of the NABC is rotated among major cities, attended by thousands of players. The 2009 Summer Nationals in Washington, DC had 14,115 total tables played over the 11 days.
For many, the most significant role of the ACBL is its sanctioning of club games and tournaments to award masterpoints. If an event has the ACBL sanction, then the highest-finishing players are awarded specified numbers of masterpoints, which can be recorded with the ACBL. Most players value the increase in their masterpoint total as a measure of their success at the game. Unlike the Elo rating system developed for chess, the masterpoint system is strictly one of accumulation. A player's masterpoint total can never decline except as part of a penalty imposed for ethics violations.
Members receive the monthly Bridge Bulletin magazine.
The ACBL has also published the ACBL Bridge Series, a series of books written by Audrey Grant and designed to teach the game to beginners, as well as to help more experienced players review and expand upon their knowledge of the game.
The ACBL consists of 25 Districts. Each District elects a District Director (DD) who serves a three-year term on the ACBL Board of Directors. Clicking on the district number brings up the web site for that District. Clicking on the Report brings up the District Director report.
^ "Zone 2- ACBL". World Bridge Federation. Retrieved 2009-07-29.
^ District 1 Director's Report by Leo Weniger, Summer 2016.
^ ACBL Bridge Bulletin, August 2010, page 9.
^ "2009 Washington D.C. Report". Archived from the original on 2010-09-20. Retrieved 2009-08-08.