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Cannabis may be illegal in the UK, but CBD oil (or cannabidiol) isn’t – and in recent years its health benefits have been better explained and understood.
But how is CBD oil impacing esports and gaming? We take a look.
Looking specifically at UK esports, the most obvious development to mention is the partnership between UK-based team organisation London Esports and CBD drinks brand Aver.
The first-of-its-kind deal aimed to ‘confront stereotypes around bravery and champion men’s mental health’.
Aver co-founder Alexander Ames said in a Dexerto article (linked above): “At Aver we’ve been talking about overcoming fear and anxiety, something that’s quite relevant in all our lives right now. Fear is a useless emotion unless it’s followed by action, but getting from fear to action requires a critical middle step: Bravery.
“We want to encourage people to take action and ‘Live Braver.’ Partnering with a bunch of young men who took the road less traveled and are living out a dream as a result – that felt pretty spot on.”
More recently, London Esports has launched new content partnered with Aver, like the following:
Aver’s CBD energy drinks include the likes of Boost and Calm, which contain ingredients like chamomile, lemon, ginger, natural caffeine, vitamin C, magnesium and, of course, CBD.
CBD has a range of alleged health benefits, including pain relief, reducing anxiety and PTSD, easing diabetic complications, protecting against neurological disease and more. For esports, it can reduce pain and inflammation acquired from pro gaming and long playing sessions, as well as increase the healing rate of damaged or inflamed tissue.
CBD comes in a variety of forms, from capsules to creams, oils, gummies and more. For one example, there’s CBD Cream For Muscle & Joint UK available.
What about esports tournaments? Are players allowed to take CBD products? It depends on the event and the tournament organiser.
Some, like ESL, apparently do not allow players to take CBD products while participating in a tournament, but state that the consumption of such products is okay outside of the running of a tournament. It’s so not to give any players a competitive advantage.
There are other partnerships outside of London Esports and Aver’s.
Valorant player Braxton ‘Brax’ Pierce (pictured, top) struck a deal with SummaForte earlier this year.
“I’ve been using SummaTape and SummaMix for a while and they’ve both helped me step up my game,” he said. “The tape is easy to apply and helps my hands recover from long scrim blocks. The mix is tasty and an easy part of my daily routine. I’m excited to be SummaForte’s first ambassador and an early advocate for CBD in gaming, and I look forward to helping bring healthy performance to the scene.”
It’s clear that the perception of CBD is changing, both in general and within gaming/esports, as is the understanding around it.
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