The New York State Mathematics League held its first competition in 1973, a competition intended for New York state teams. A team from Massachusetts asked to participate in the 1974 NYSML competition, and it took first place. This led to the creation of the Atlantic Regions Mathematics League in 1976, which became the American Regions Mathematics League in 1984.
When the Atlantic Regions Mathematics League was founded, the competition was held at a single eastern site that changed from year to year:
1976: C. W. Post College
1977: Brown University
1978: Rutgers University
1 979: University of Hartford
1980: Rutgers University
1981: University of Maryland College Park
1982: University of Maryland College Park
1983: Pennsylvania State University
After 1983, the coordinators decided to keep the competition at Penn State University. ARML expanded to two sites in the late 1980s and to three sites in the 1990s. A fourth site will be added for the 2007 competition, in the Southeast (somewhere within Florida).
The 2006 competition saw significant expansion. Around 120 teams and a total of around 1800 students competed, which was around 25% larger than during any other year. The Western site at UNLV nearly doubled.