By Anthony Dion, The Daily News, Longview, Wash.
History was made June 18 at Walker Stadium in Portland, Wa., but not by any of the players on the field.
No, instead history was made by the Portland Pickles franchise as it became the first sports franchise in the country to sell cannabis-derived beverages to patrons.
The Portland Pickles debuted the THC Seltzers crafted by Cycling Frog while the Pickles hosted the Cowlitz Black Bears in the West Coast League contest.
“We’re thrilled to be the first people to do this,” said Portland general manager Parker Huffman. “When an opportunity presented itself with Cycling Frog and they told us about the product, we jumped all over it. I think the Portland Pickles have always wanted to be pushing boundaries in the sports landscape.”
The West Coast League also includes a number of teams from Washington and north of the border in British Columbia and Alberta.
The Pickles – who claim on their website to be “Home to the world’s weirdest mascot, Dillon.” – also kept things weird by hosting a series of wrestling matches just out of play during the game. The grapplers kept the fans entertained in between pitches and sips of their beverage of choice.
Huffman and his team are not new to breaking ground when it comes to hemp and its flowering sister. Back in 2019, the Portland Pickles franchise was the first sports team to sell CBD products at a sporting event when it partnered with Lazarus Naturals. Tuesday’s groundbreaking event is just another in a series of moves the team has made aimed at normalizing cannabis consumption in society.
“We’re really excited,” said Huffman. “I think the goal here both for Cycling Frog and the Portland Pickles is to continue to move forward in the direction of having cannabis consumption be more normalized and accessible to people.”
The Cycling Frog THC seltzers were offered in two flavours at Tuesday’s game, Lemon and Passionfruit. Each seltzer contains two milligrams of THC and four milligrams of CBD per 12 ounce can. Portland’s partnership with Cycling Frog as its exclusive THC beverage partner will continue through the 2024 season.
The Cowlitz Black Bears were scheduled to continue their road series at Portland on Wednesday and Thursday evenings.
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