“Sports Illustrated” Is Getting Into the CBD Business

It’s stressful being a legacy brand in the publishing world.

Which may explain why the iconic but embattled Sports Illustrated — which was sold twice in two years and laid off half their newsroom last October — is entering the CBD game.

Per a press release (and via a story in The Big Lead), SI‘s owners Authentic Brands Group (ABG) just announced a partnership with the CBD brand Sentia Wellness (the “world’s largest producer of CBD nutraceuticals”). The collaboration will see the release of Sports Illustrated and Sports Illustrated Swim-branded CBD-infused topicals, including a Recovery Cream rolling out this weekend.

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“Sports Illustrated has been at the forefront of sports and culture for over 65 years and is a name that resonates with the athlete and fan in all of us,” said Daniel W. Dienst, vice chairman at ABG. “We are excited to partner with Sentia, a leader in the wellness industry, as we continue to expand the Sports Illustrated brand and create trusted, high-quality consumer products.”

This probably shouldn’t come as a surprise — the not-so-regulated CBD industry is a potentially $10 billion market in a few years. And SI‘s corporate bosses ABG seem likely to leverage the brand’s name into new markets, as their press release touts a “portfolio of brands” that includes Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Juicy Couture, Muhammad Ali and a lot of other assets that sure don’t sound like the work of a serious publisher.