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MLB makes historic change with openness to CBD sponsorship

By Kevin Henry

GRANTHAM, ENGLAND - AUGUST 27: A hemp crop waits to be harvested in Lincolnshire for British CBD oil producer Crop England on August 27, 2021 in Grantham, England. The farm supplies Crop England, a British CBD oil producer founded in 2019 by Mike and Jackie Lamyman. The popularity of CBD oil from the cannabis family of plants has grown in recent years due to its health properties. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)
GRANTHAM, ENGLAND - AUGUST 27: A hemp crop waits to be harvested in Lincolnshire for British CBD oil producer Crop England on August 27, 2021 in Grantham, England. The farm supplies Crop England, a British CBD oil producer founded in 2019 by Mike and Jackie Lamyman. The popularity of CBD oil from the cannabis family of plants has grown in recent years due to its health properties. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images) /
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In a historic change of tone, Major League Baseball and its teams are poised to receive sponsorship funds from companies with CBD products, saying on a recent conference call CBDs will become an “approved category” for sponsorship opportunities once they meet certain requirements.

MLB and its teams embracing a potential CBD deal is new territory for professional sports

In this Sports Business Journal article, MLB’s chief revenue officer, Noah Garden, detailed the two requirements that any CBD product would have to meet in order to become a sponsor of Major League Baseball or any of its 30 teams.

"“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.”"

As mentioned in the quote, the timing of a possible implementation of a CBD deal will depend on when a product gains approval from NSF.

According to the article, the CBD market is expected to grow almost 10 times from what it is right now before the year 2028, jumping from its current revenue of $4.9 billion to $47 billion during that span. With the current interest in the product and the projected growth, it’s no surprise that Major League Baseball is interested in tapping into the market. However, the acceptance of CBD products that meet those two requirements show a departure from MLB’s past conservative native (much as the embrace of sports gambling has been in recent months).

The article also details that a CBD product could eventually become a sponsor of a patch on an MLB uniform, with Garden saying that, for a patch sponsorship to become a reality, the CBD product would have to have some kind of tie-in with sports.

We talked about the slippery slope of uniform patches and sports gambling sites affiliated with MLB in this article.

Additionally, CBD brands that ink MLB deals would be allowed to air ads for the product during televised MLB games. It would follow a similar recipe created with the addition of sports betting advertisements through recent sponsorships.

Next. Ranking the 12 winningest teams in MLB history. dark

MLB’s acceptance of CBD products as sponsors will likely open the door for similar ventures in other professional sports, making this decision historic not only for baseball but professional leagues as a whole.

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