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Major League Baseball to field pitches for CBD ads

Published on June 24, 2022 by David Wylie

Photo: Adobe/the oz.

Your favourite Major League Baseball team may soon be sponsored by a CBD company.

In what would be a landmark change in the world of professional sports, the Sports Business Journal is reporting that MLB officials told team marketers in a conference call this week that CBD is now approved for “patch” sponsorships—a new ad category on MLB team jerseys, coming in 2023.

Caveat: The product must be NSF certified to not contain psychoactive levels of THC—and no company yet has that certification.

  • RELATED: Star Buds gets its logo on Ultimate Frisbee jersey

The Sports Business Journal story suggests the change will “echo across the industry and open a new sponsorship category in pro sports.”

So far in mainstream sports, only the UFC allows CBD marketing.

So what does that mean in Canada for the Toronto Blue Jays?

Photo: Adobe/the oz.

It’s uncertain at this juncture what this means for Canadian MLB franchise the Toronto Blue Jays. The Cannabis Act prohibits any sports sponsorships tied to weed. Canada regulates CBD differently than the US, where it’s practically ubiquitous, found even in gas stations.

Interestingly, cannabis companies have been welcomed with open arms by the Ultimate Frisbee league.

Recently, two teams in the league have announced cannabis partnerships, including the US arm of Star Buds.