In a combination that would have been unthinkable even a few years ago, Sports Illustrated is getting into the cannabidiol (CBD) business.
Authentic Brands Group, the privately held company that publishes the storied athletic magazine, announced Friday that the Sports Illustrated brand would grace a line of CBD-laced topicals. These products have been developed and produced by privately held Sentia Wellness, one of the better-known companies active in the CBD products space.
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Authentic said that the CBD products would be branded under both the Sports Illustrated and Sports Illustrated Swim names. The first product to go on the market will be a limited-edition "recovery cream," slated to become available this weekend. Authentic promises a full rollout later in 2020. It did not provide further details of the Sports Illustrated line.
CBD is cannabinoid that is prevalent in the hemp plant. It is purported to have a range of medicinal properties, although recent pronouncements from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have cast some doubt on these claims. Unlike the THC found in abundance in cannabis plants, CBD does not get a user high.
Sentia Wellness is a very young company, having been formed only last year. It was founded by people who were formerly employed by Cura Partners, a company that agreed to be acquired by Curaleaf (CURLF -0.35%) last May. Curaleaf recently said it believed the long-simmering acquisition would close in the very near future.
As a high-profile marijuana company, Curaleaf retails numerous CBD products at the dispensaries it owns. There was no indication whether or not it would carry any of the Sports Illustrated CBD products.
