As a kid growing up in Northern New Jersey, I idolized Michael Jordan, Derek Jeter, Pro Football Hall of Fame Running Back Curtis Martin, and other athletes who played in the late 1990s and early 2000s. I would spend hours in my driveway trying to emulate Allen Iverson’s crossover dribble.

From my vantage point, these superstar athletes were superhumans with some extraterrestrial genome. From a distance or through a screen, it can be easy to forget that professional athletes have the same fundamental needs as everyone else, alongside their unique physical and mental health demands. Except for maybe Serena Williams. Superwoman is in a league of her own.

In reviewing some of the top trends in today’s sports nutrition market, it’s noteworthy that brands are taking product concepts like hydration and electrolyte replenishment seen on the sidelines of sporting events to the mass market. Wellness needs like joint health, rest and recovery, sustainable energy, focus, concentration, and stress management are all issues that dedicated athletes and more casual fitness-minded consumers may share.

The crossover interest in natural health solutions among both athletes and everyday consumers is perhaps exemplified best by Major League Baseball’s (MLB) partnership with Charlotte’s Web (CW), which has launched the first broad-spectrum hemp extract that is NSF Certified for Sport. CW’s Daily Edge product is the first in the company’s Sports line, which is expected to include gummies, sprays, topicals, and more next year.

Noah Garden, chief revenue officer for MLB, said the league had been paying attention to the CBD market for a while, before it ultimately opened America’s pastime to cannabidiol. “As adoption and popularity has increased, we were also getting inquiries from our players about CBD use and which brands were allowable,” he said.

Of course, baseball players aren’t the only professional athletes to express interest in CBD. Many others have been vocal about their usage and/or formed brand partnerships. However, this league-wide agreement and the NSF Certified for Sport mandate offer a new level of legitimacy in a category that has been held back by regulatory uncertainty.

As a baseball fan and a natural products advocate, from my seat, this historic partnership is a welcome gamechanger. For MLB, it represents a new chapter focused on wellness of its players following the era of rampant performance-enhancing drug use. For Charlotte’s Web, a leader in the CBD market, it opens a gate to a major platform whereby it can showcase its brand and products to a broader audience.

Ultimately, it’s a major win for athletes and consumers who want access to the potential benefits that cannabinoids like CBD may offer.