Prof. Timothy Dewhirst, from the Department of Marketing and Consumer Studies, spoke to TheScore.com, about the growing trend of sports teams and athletes making endorsement deals with companies selling cannabis-based products.

Several big names have already signed partnership deals with brands made with CBD, or cannabidiol, many of which are marketed as pain relievers.

Although the NBA, NFL, NHL, and MLB still prohibit their franchises from signing CBD companies as sponsors, Dewhirst said the endorsement deals involving smaller pro leagues and players will raise the visibility of these brands and could have a powerful effect on public opinion.

Dewhirst is a senior research fellow in marketing and public policy and  studies brand strategy, sponsorship-linked marketing and social marketing in the Gordon S. Lang School of Business and Economics.