A MLB logo is seen before a game between the Oakland Athletics and the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium of Anaheim on May 22, 2022 in Anaheim, California.
Ronald Martinez | Getty Images
Major League Baseball is getting into the CBD game.
The league is teaming up with Charlotte’s Web Holdings Inc., a maker of CBD products, in an exclusive multi-year partnership. The deal marks the first time one of the four major U.S. professional sports leagues has formed a sponsorship agreement with a CBD company.
Charlotte’s Web makes CBD products like gummies and topical sprays. CBD is short for cannabidiol, a compound found in the cannabis plant, and has been touted as a natural remedy for reducing inflammation and stress. The compound has been added to a variety of products.
Charlotte’s Web will become the “Official CBD of Major League Baseball.”
MLB paved the way for the agreement in June, when it officially allowed clubs to score sponsorships with CBD companies that are certified for sport by NSF, an organization that establishes standards for products used by athletes.
The agreement between MLB and Charlotte’s Web came after a “rigorous approval process,” the league said in a release.
Celebrities and athletes have also endorsed CBD products. Hall of Fame NFL running back Terrell Davis partnered with investors in 2018 to create a CBD-infused sports drink.
The MLB partnership also comes as Charlotte’s Web is set to release Daily Edge, a tincture and the first CBD product to be certified for sport by NSF. The product, set to be released Wednesday, will feature MLB’s logo on its bottle.
Although the Food and Drug Administration has not certified CBD products, their popularity has grown exponentially. In 2021 the U.S. CBD market topped $4.7 billion in total sales, according to the release.
