Green Thumb Partners With Barstool Sports, Upping Media Exposure

Multistate cannabis operator Green Thumb Industries has partnered with media group Barstool Sports, announcing a new plan that will see GTI’s cannabis brands integrated into Barstool’s entertainment programming. The deal is focused on GTI brands Rythm and Dogwalkers Prerolls, and will see Barstool programs airing special segments that allow GTI to highlight its cannabis brands while adhering to strict regulations on cannabis advertising.

Initially, the GTI/Barstool partnership will cover shows like The Dog Walk, Macrodosing, and 773 TV. The move isn’t Barstool’s first foray into cannabis branded content. Earlier this year, ahead of 4/20, the media brand announced that Cann’s cannabis drinks would be integrated into shows like Fore Play, Bussin’ with the Boys, and Chicks in the Office, among others.

The new partnership will make GTI’s brands more visible to the more than 60 million consumers who interact with Barstool properties. In addition, Barstool’s focus on adult audiences, whether through legal sports betting or the company’s co-branded Pink Whitney vodka, made by Spirit of Gallo, makes them a good fit for a cannabis company looking to expand its audience without running afoul of advertising restrictions. While specific restrictions vary by state, cannabis companies are commonly prevented from advertising to audiences younger than 21 years old, with some states placing further restrictions on billboards and other out-of-home ads.

GTI has also embarked on other collaborative marketing moves, with the company teaming up with famous musicians for Rythm’s Artist Series, a collaboration which pairs individual artists with certain strains of cannabis.

While full details of the new partnership are still to come, placement within Barstool programming allows GTI to sidestep advertising restrictions while keeping the focus on age-appropriate audiences. Green Thumb is among the largest multistate operators in the U.S., with annual revenues of over $1 billion.

Green Thumb isn’t alone in seeking national exposure within the cannabis and hemp THC categories. Last month, California hemp THC label Pamos announced a new national campaign focused around digital, paid social, and podcast advertising, as well as local ads and promotional events in markets with key retail partnerships.

And this summer, Pennsylvania-based THC-seltzer brand Wynk launched “Get Together,” the company’s largest advertising campaign to date. “When we put up billboards or do wild postings, do local events, it’s all to make the product familiar and exist in the places that people expect to see alcohol,” Angus Rittenburg, CEO and co-founder of Wynk manufacturer Wherehouse Beverage Co., recently told SND.—Shane English

Tagged : Barstool Sports, cannabis, Dogwalkers, Green Thumb, Rythm

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