In a June 21 conference call, according to SBJ, MLB officials notified team marketers that CBD is now considered an “‘approved category’” under certain conditions involving certification by NSF, an auditing, testing and certification organization.

According to the Associated Press, sponsors need to be certified by NSF to not have psychoactive levels of THC.

Neither news organization noted whether the THC limit would be based on the federal hemp THC limit of 0.3% or whether sponsors could additionally be involved in state-legal adult-use or medical cannabis operations under the same brand name or vertically integrated cmpany.

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“We've been watching this category for a while and waiting for it to mature to the point where we can get comfortable with it," said MLB CRO Noah Garden, according to SBJ. "We told the clubs if you want to do a deal in the CBD category, it will require two things: One is NSF certification—and none of them are there yet, although around three to five (brands) are in process. The other is to get approval from the commissioner’s office. ... Our fans are very much the kind of customers they are looking for, and we like being first. It's a good opportunity for us and the clubs. The last few companies that came to see us about this, the process of NSF certification was embraced. That gave us a comfort level to be able to move forward.”