MJBizMag July 2021 - 12

HempNotebook | Kristen Nichols
Athletes on the Outside
S
ports and corporate sponsorships
go together like baseball and
a glove.
Race cars just don't look right
unless they're plastered with ads, and
you can't imagine an athlete such as
Tiger Woods without a Nike swoosh
somewhere on his shirt or cap.
But a recent athletic sponsorship
made me do a double take. Colorado
CBD maker Synchronicity signed
a multiyear agreement to sponsor
University of Colorado Athletics-likely
making it the first cannabis sponsorship
in a Power Five conference, if not an
NCAA first.
Here's why it's weird: College
athletes aren't allowed to use CBD or
any other cannabinoids.
So it was absolutely bizarre when
University of Colorado Athletic Director
Rick George announced in a statement
that Synchronicity's " commitment to
health and wellness (were) very much
aligned with our athletic department. "
The news release also bragged that
the sponsorship deal would include
in-game promotions in the university's
football stadium and basketball arena
and would " help ensure CU Athletics
can continue to provide a holistic,
world-class experience for studentathletes
in all sports. "
Say what?
Unlevel Playing Field
I asked the school and Synchronicity
if the student-athletes would be
allowed to take CBD, a nonintoxicating
cannabinoid now cleared for use
by Olympic athletes and other
international competitors.
Nope. All cannabinoids are a banned
substance under NCAA policy.
Neither the school nor the
manufacturer would answer questions
on the record about the size of the
sponsorship or why the school's
athletics department would want to
promote a product that young athletes
on the field are not allowed to use.
The NCAA certainly isn't the first
sports regulatory body to have a
conflicted relationship with cannabis-be
it low-THC hemp or high-THC marijuana.
All four major professional sports
leagues in the United States-National
Football League, National Basketball
Association, Major League Baseball
and National Hockey League-have
been slow to acknowledge that their
athletes commonly use cannabis to
recover and relax. But the pro leagues
at least have reduced penalties for
cannabis or removed it entirely from
their lists of banned substances. The
NFL even convened a meeting this year
with the NFL Players Association to
learn more about the science of CBD
use for pain relief.
That makes the NCAA's position on
cannabinoids even more confounding.
For an institution that is routinely under
fire for running an exploitative and
broken system that has made billions
off the uncompensated sweat of
The NCAA certainly isn't the first sports
regulatory body to have a conflicted
relationship with cannabis. "
12 MJBizMagazine | July 2021
Hemp operators should use their influence for change in college athletics
young people-and, disproportionately,
Black athletes, at that-maintaining a
prohibition on cannabis use seems like
an unforced error.
Power for Good
I'd love to see Synchronicity use its
sponsorship and the ads it paid for to
highlight the NCAA's nonsensical ban on
cannabinoid use and push for change.
At the very least, I hope other
CBD manufacturers don't use their
profits to support institutions that
perpetuate inequity.
Cannabis has been snubbed for
decades by corporate sports. It's
time the cannabis industry uses its
newfound wealth to advocate for
change instead of simply being flattered
it was invited to the party.
Kristen Nichols is the editor of Hemp
Industry Daily. You can reach her at
kristen.nichols@hempindustrydaily.com.
MJBizMag July 2021

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