The MLB is the first big-league sports property to officially have a CBD sponsor, a move that will give the league a piece of the growing CBD market in the U.S, estimated to be worth $4.9 billion worldwide this year and projected to reach $12.64 billion by 2026.
Charlotte's Web (TSX:CWEB) (OTCQX:CWBHF) has signed a deal designating it the "Official CBD of MLB," which includes exclusive category rights and covers this year's postseason and an additional three years.
Charlotte's Web is launching, via its own e-commerce, a line of CBD products, which will carry MLB's familiar silhouetted batter logo. The brand will run electronic signage during the playoffs and World Series and is planning a World Series sweepstakes promotion, according to the Sports Business Journal (SBJ). Under the terms of the deal, the MLB is also receiving shares in Charlotte's Web Holdings.
The MLB officially approved CBD sponsorships for team jersey patches and more in June of this year. Although sponsorships can only be sold if the company has been certified by the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF), meaning that CBD products cannot contain psychoactive levels of THC.
"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," MLB chief revenue officer Noah Garden said at the time.
In June, the MLB opened CBDs as a sponsorship category for the league and its clubs, with the proviso that products seeking league or team sponsorship rights be NSF-certified. Charlotte's Web received that certification.
"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," Garden said.
BREAKING: @MLB becomes the first big-league sports property to have a CBD sponsor.@charlottesweb has signed a sponsorship deal with MLB, designating it the "Official CBD of Major League Baseball."
� More from Terry Lefton pic.twitter.com/oTEM093jlI
— Sports Business Journal (@SBJ) October 11, 2022
Who's Next?
Now the question is, which leagues will follow the MLB's lead by welcoming CBD sponsorships?
Some are already on board: The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) announced an exclusive, multi-year, multi-million dollar CBD partnership with Aurora Cannabis (NASDAQ:ACB) in 2019. Its current five-year sponsorship with Love Hemp (OTCQB:WRHLF) is one of the MMA's top 10 sponsorships.
"There's opportunity across sports," said UFC SVP/Global Partnerships Paul Asencio. "I don't think every team will have a (CBD) partner, but probably every league will. It's just a really good connection and marketing platform because professional athletes are using these products and will continue to."
Photo: Wikipedia
MLB是第一家正式擁有CBD贊助商的大聯盟體育資產，此舉將使聯盟在不斷增長的美國CBD市場中佔有一席之地，據估計，今年全球CBD市場價值49億美元，預計到2026年將達到126.4億美元。
夏洛特的網(多倫多證券交易所：CWEB)(OTCQX：CWBHF) 已經簽署了一項協議，將其指定為“MLB的官方CBD”，其中包括獨家類別權利和覆蓋今年的季後賽以及額外的三年。
夏洛特的網絡正在通過自己的電子商務推出一系列CBD產品，這些產品將帶有MLB熟悉的剪影擊球手標誌。該品牌將在季後賽期間運行電子標牌和世界系列賽據《體育商業日報》(SBJ)報道，該公司正計劃舉辦一場世界大賽抽獎促銷活動。根據交易條款，MLB還將獲得夏洛特網絡控股公司的股份。
美國職棒大聯盟今年6月，官方批准了CBD對球隊球衣補丁和更多的贊助。雖然贊助商只有在公司獲得國家衞生基金會 (NSF)), 這意味着CBD產品不能含有THC的精神活性水平。
美國職棒大聯盟首席營收官表示：“我們關注這一類別已經有一段時間了，一直在等待它成熟到可以接受的程度。”諾亞花園當時説。
6月，MLB將CBD作為贊助類別開放對於聯盟及其俱樂部，但條件是尋求聯盟或球隊贊助權的產品必須獲得NSF認證。夏洛特的韋伯獲得了這一認證。
“我們的球迷正是他們正在尋找的那種客户，我們喜歡成為第一個。這對我們和俱樂部來説都是一個很好的機會。最後幾家來找我們談這件事的公司，NSF認證的過程都被接受了。這給了我們一個舒適的水平，能夠繼續前進，”加登説。
突破：@MLB成為第一個擁有CBD贊助商的大聯盟體育地產。@Charlottesweb已經與MLB簽署了贊助協議，將其指定為“美國職業棒球大聯盟官方CBD”。
�More來自Terry Lefton pic.twitter.com/oTEM093jlI
--《體育商報》(@sbj)2022年10月11日
下一個是誰？
現在的問題是，哪些聯盟會效仿MLB，歡迎CBD的贊助？
一些人已經加入了：這個終極格鬥錦標賽聯合利華(UFC)宣佈於2019年與極光大麻(Aurora Cannabis)(納斯達克代碼：ACB)建立獨家、多年、價值數百萬美元的CBD合作伙伴關係。它目前與Love hemp(場外交易市場代碼：WRHLF)的五年贊助是MMA前十大讚助之一。
UFC高級副總裁/全球夥伴關係表示：在體育領域，存在着機會保羅·阿森西奧。“我不認為每支球隊都會有一個(CBD)合作伙伴，但很可能每個聯賽都會有。這只是一個非常好的聯繫和營銷平臺，因為職業運動員正在並將繼續使用這些產品。”
圖片來源：維基百科
