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Massachusetts-based cannabis conglomerate MariMed has broken ground in its home state—and for the industry broadly—by inking a deal as the exclusive weed sponsor at two popular Boston music venues.
The alliance kicks off within one week and spans the 2024 calendar year, weaving MariMed product messages into the live experience at MGM Music Hall at Fenway and Citizens House of Blues Boston.
The deal puts MariMed—which will promote its marquee flower brand, called Nature’s Heritage—on the same playing field with the venues’ existing mainstream sponsors: Jim Beam, MassMutual and Truly.
The move comes at a time when music and weed have become closer collaborators on the business side, bolstering their long-running informal ties and giving cannabis companies a coveted marketing platform in a tightly regulated environment.
“One of the biggest challenges in cannabis is that a lot of traditional advertising avenues are not open to us,” Jay O’Malley, MariMed’s vice president of marketing and research and development, told ADWEEK. “We have to find other ways to reach consumers, and music and cannabis are like peanut butter and jelly—they’re just meant to go together.”
Discussions started nearly one year ago, with the resulting agreement allowing the cannabis brand to rub shoulders with potentially 1 million or more concertgoers. Foot traffic is brisk at the venues, with MGM Music Hall selling as many as 700,000 tickets per year for its 150 shows, and the local House of Blues admitting up to 500,000 concertgoers for its 200 annual performances.
Busting stigmas
Aside from being a boon to MariMed, the sponsorship represents another step forward for the legal category, according to Karan Wadhera, managing partner at Casa Verde Capital.
“We think it’s definitely positive for the industry in building awareness and normalizing its place in society,” Wadhera told ADWEEK. “We also believe that cannabis offerings at live events are an inevitability—the fit is certainly strong.”
