MLB Teams Partner With CBD Companies

First the Chicago Cubs and then the Kansas City Royals …who’s next?

When the Chicago Cubs announced in April that they were partnering with MYND DRINKS, known for its line of cannabidiol (CBD)-infused sparkling beverages, it was a first for one of the longest-running franchises in professional sports. Then in June, another major league baseball (MLB) team followed suit: the Kansas City Royals announced its partnership with Pure Spectrum CBD, a third-party tested line of CBD oils and gummies.

Chicago Cubs

“We’re proud to be the first club to partner with a CBD company, but what was more important to us was making sure that the brand was the right fit,” Alex Seyferth, the Cubs’ Vice President of Corporate Partnerships said in a statement.¹ “MYND DRINKS is a Chicago-based company that promotes overall wellness and helps ease the stressors of everyday life, just like a Friday 1:20 game at Wrigley Field.”

World anti-doping agency (WADA)-compliant, MYND DRINKS is headquartered in Chicago and founded in 2019. On its website, the company notes that unlike other CBD beverages that use “Broad Spectrum” production methods, they instead use an isolate technique that “completely isolates the CBD to get all the benefits and guarantees zero THC.”

One of the first signs of MYND’s partnership with the Cubs emerged in the early stages of the 2023 MLB season: the team released a guided meditation video narrated by Pat Hughes, the radio voice of the team for over four decades.

“We are so thrilled and honored to announce our partnership with the legendary Chicago Cubs,” MYND DRINKS CEO Simon Allen said in the same statement. “They share our vision of health and wellness in major league sports.”

Kansas City Royals
Just 2 months after the Chicago Cubs embarked on their partnership with a CBD brand, the Missouri-based Kansas City Royals announced their partnership with Pure Spectrum—a company with already sewn ties to athletic entities like CrossFit Games, USA Triathlon, and USA Weightlifting.

“The Kansas City Royals are proud to be just the second MLB team to form a partnership with a company like Pure Spectrum. For this organization, this opportunity gives us a chance to support a brand with Kansas City ties and to educate the community on the benefits of CBD,” said Sarah Tourville, Executive Vice president and Chief Commercial and Community Impact Officer of the Kansas City Royals, in a press release.

These 2 team partnerships build on MLB as the first professional sports league to have a sponsorship with a CBD company—Colorado-based Charlotte’s Web in October 2022.³