Major League Baseball has reportedly signed the CBD company to be the league’s premier cannabis sponsor – with plans to promote the business at the upcoming World Championships.
The Sports Business Journal reported Tuesday that Charlotte’s Web Holdings, one of the nation’s most popular cannabis-derived brands, has signed the agreement with the league to become the “Official CBD of the MLB.”
As part of the deal, Charlotte’s Web will launch a line of “sports” cannabis products bearing the MLB logo. In addition to the rights fee and revenue share in sales, the baseball league will also receive a portion of the stock in the company, which is publicly traded in Canada.
SBJ mentioned The deal “includes exclusive category rights and covers this year’s post-season, plus an additional three years.”
Marijuana Moment reached out to Charlotte’s Web and MLB for comment, but a company representative said executives were not immediately available and the league did not respond by press time.
The MLB has been among the most progressive professional sports organizations in the United States when it comes to marijuana.
The new development comes about four months after it was reported MLB has begun allowing major league baseball teams to sell sponsorship offers to cannabis companies that market CBD products, as long as they meet certain criteria.
As SBJ reported at the time, the team could only sell CBD sponsorships if the company’s potential products had been approved by NSF International, the consumer safety and product testing organization used by sports leagues, and the club would also need to obtain permission from the MLB Commissioner’s Office.
broke down: MLB It became the first major league sports property to have a CBD sponsor.Tweet embed She signed a sponsorship agreement with the MLB, calling it the “Official CBD for Major League Baseball.”
⬇️ More Terry Liftonhttps://t.co/TjZd0wZIjI pic.twitter.com/oTEM093jlI
Sports Business Journal (SBJ) October 11 2022
MLB has emerged among other professional sports leagues as being more willing to respond to the changing marijuana policy landscape. For example, I explained in a note in 2020 that Players will not be punished for using cannabis While they are not employed, they cannot be personally sponsored by the marijuana business or hold investments in the industry.
The association also said at the time that it was working with NSF International to analyze and certify legal, contaminant-free CBD products in order to allow teams to store them on club premises. It is unclear whether this latest development is directly related to this collaboration.
The update builds on MLB’s 2019 decision to Remove cannabis from the university’s list of prohibited substances. Prior to changing this rule, players who tested positive for THC were referred to mandatory treatment, and failure to comply is punishable by a fine of up to $35,000. This punishment is now gone.
The policies are the result of negotiations between MLB and the Players’ Association. The two parties agreed to deal with the university’s drug policy with distinction Focus on treatment instead of punishments. Players who test positive for opioids or cocaine, for example, will only be penalized if they refuse treatment.
A number of sports governance bodies have recently relaxed rules around cannabis as laws change and medical applications become more widely accepted.
The UFC announced last year that it would not penalize fighters for positive marijuana tests, MMA fight mentioned.
“There is opportunity across the sport,” Paul Asensio told SBJ. “I don’t think every team will have ([CBD] partner, but maybe every league will do it. It’s just a really good communication and marketing platform, because professional athletes use these products and will continue to do so. ”
For example, student athletes who are part of the NCAA will not automatically lose their eligibility to play after a positive marijuana test. Under the recommended rules by a major committee earlier this year.
The conversation about drug testing and professional sports came to prominence last summer after American sprinter Shaikari Richardson. Suspended from the Olympics due to a positive THC test. She admitted to using cannabis in a legal case after learning of her mother’s death.
The runner said she would feel “blessed and proud” if the interest in her cause made you feel Affect other athletes’ policy change. Even the White House and President Joe Biden himself have studied the issue, noting that there is a question about it Whether marijuana bans should remain “the rules”.
However, recently the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) decided to Keep marijuana on the banned substance list international athletes after a scientific review and determining that cannabis use “violates the spirit of sport”.
Meanwhile, the NFL Drug testing policy has already clearly changed in 2020 as part of a collective bargaining agreement.
NFL players no longer face the possibility of suspension from games due to positive tests for any drug — not just marijuana — under a collective bargaining agreement. Instead, they will face a fine. The threshold for what constitutes a positive THC test has also been increased under the deal.
The NBA announced in late 2020 that it was extending its policy of Do not randomly test players for drugs for marijuana During the 2021-2022 season. The association said it will not subject players to random drug testing for THC. However, they will continue to test for ’cause’ cases where players have a history of substance abuse.
Marijuana icon Snoop Dogg, who appeared in the Super Bowl halftime show this year where there is an ad Broadcast separately that indirectly supported rationingargued that Sports leagues need to stop testing players for marijuana And let them use it as an alternative to prescription opioids.
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