Sports Business Journal has the story
MLB and its teams are now free to sell CBD sponsorships, a development likely to echo across the industry and open a new sponsorship category in pro sports. League officials told team marketers in a conference call yesterday that CBDs are henceforth an “approved category” as long as they are certified by testing organization NSF to not have psychoactive levels of THC. Only the UFC has currently sold this category, as all of the other major North American leagues have prohibited CBD sponsorships, largely due to the stigma associated with psychoactive cannabis (marijuana). MLB is looking to grab a piece of the growing CBD market in the U.S. It’s unknown at this time what MLB teams or the league could get for a CBD deal. One optimistic estimate has the entire CBD market at $4.9B worldwide this year, exploding to $47B in ’28. “We’ve been watching this category for a while and waiting for it to mature to the point where we can get comfortable with it,” said MLB CRO Noah Garden. “We told the clubs if you want to do a deal in the CBD category, it will require two things: One is NSF certification — and none of them are there yet, although around three to five (brands) are in process. The other is to get approval from the commissioner’s office. … Our fans are very much the kind of customers they are looking for, and we like being first. It’s a good opportunity for us and the clubs. The last few companies that came to see us about this, the process of NSF certification was embraced. That gave us a comfort level to be able to move forward.”
"CBD is here. It's a disruptor."@KevinGarnett5KG on the emergence of CBD in sports.@paragon_mktg x #SBJBIS pic.twitter.com/Xcqidq03qU
— Sports Business Journal (@SBJ) June 15, 2022
POTENTIAL FOR A PATCH DEAL? With MLB opening up team and league jersey patch sponsorships for the ’23 season, CBD companies will now be among those allowed to strike such deals. “We are open-minded to doing a patch deal here, depending on the brand and what that brand represents,” said Garden. “It has to have a brand that represents sports.” CBD brands striking deals with teams or the league will be eligible to air ads during MLB game telecasts — similar to MLB rules governing sports betting ads.
GROWING MOVEMENT: Kevin Garnett, speaking on a CBD panel at last week’s SBJ Brand Innovation Summit in Chicago, estimated that more than 80% of NBA players are using CBD products for pain management and sleep. “With their emergence and where CBDs are going, not only are you going to see a deal (in the NBA), you are going to see sponsorships on the jerseys,” he said. “You are going to see CBD products signing players, both women and men.” Athletes with CBD sponsorship deals include golfer Bubba Watson, retired NFLer Rob Gronkowski and USWNT star Megan Rapinoe. The UFC is already on its second CBD sponsorship.
HESITATION REMAINS IN SPORTS: Reluctance has been a hallmark among the big sports properties when it comes to CBDs, but MLB’s action will likely be emulated by its league brethren. With recreational marijuana now legal in 19 states, and with pot dispensaries now within sight of a few MLB venues, there is more momentum than ever behind CBDs and psychoactive pot. “It’s a better alternative to addictive products, like pain killers, opioids, and sleeping aids,” said UFC VP/Global Partnerships Grant Norris Jones, about CBDs, during last week’s conference. “The big problem has been the different standards and practices by our various broadcast partners when it comes to CBDs. … In the U.K., (UFC sponsor) Love Hemp is sold in the equivalent of Walgreens and CVS. Here, their activations have to be outside of ESPN currently. So it’s been a lot of digital, social and a brand ambassador program with our athletes.” Though its efficacy is debated, CBDs are undoubtedly rising in popularity and are available in a wide variety of “delivery systems,” including gummies, sprays, oils and creams, opening up the potential for splitting up the CBD category itself. Some see sports marketing as a way to break through the consumer education barrier and get CBDs seen more as medicine — not an intoxicant — which would certainly lead to wider acceptance by retailers.
