Mike Tyson enters the ring of New York cannabis industry
Former heavyweight not pulling any punches when it comes to promoting his pot
NEW YORK — On a recent weekend, fans of Mike Tyson, one of the greatest boxers ever, lined up by the hundreds at dispensaries in New York for a chance to meet him and to support his latest business move: selling weed in his home state.
With the recent release of his Tyson 2.0 line, Tyson, 57, has become the most visible newcomer of the celebrity wave in the state’s cannabis industry. Although actors, athletes and musicians have been cashing in on weed with product lines and endorsement deals over the past decade as legalization has swept the United States, the tide is just rising in New York. And Tyson is one of the biggest names yet to test how far fame can carry a brand in a market that is shaping up to be one of the largest and most competitive in the world.
At the Conbud dispensary on the Lower East Side, he greeted fans with handshakes and hugs as they bought from a selection of smokable flower packaged with names such as Tiger Mintz and Knockout OG. He playfully
Mike Tyson smokes a joint from his new Tyson 2.0 cannabis line at an event at the J.Bespoke lounge in New York late last year. The retired boxer’s foray into the cannabis market in New York is a test of how far a celebrity can carry a brand.
barked as he posed with a dog named Dottie and her owner, and he complimented a woman who, against the advice of her sons, wore a “Chrithmith” shirt making light of his lisp.
Within a few hours, the pair of dispensaries that introduced his cannabis brand to New York had sold more than $40,000 of his flower and expanded their foothold in a market dominated by
unlicensed competitors. And that was without the popular gummies shaped to look like Evander Holyfield’s ear, which Tyson infamously bit during a 1997 bout — one of only six fights that he lost.
“The cannabis is just doing incredible,” Tyson said in an interview. “You can’t even believe it.”
Casting his new release as a homecoming of sorts, Tyson, who was born and raised in Brooklyn, joined other New Yorkers banking on their local bona fides. They include Method Man, a member of the influential hip-hop collective known as the Wu-Tang Clan, and Abby Rockefeller, an ecologist and the scion of one of the most powerful families in America. Rockefeller is among the biggest investors in Hudson Cannabis, the producer that grows Tyson’s weed on her farm in the Hudson Valley.
Cannabis brands backed by big names have drawn mixed reception. Although they tend to outsell traditional brands, they cannot compete with the biggest brands that are selling millions of dollars of weed each month.
Mitchell Laferla, one of the firm’s analysts, said what ultimately drives consumers in newer markets such as New York is value, and that’s where celebrity brands struggle. The consumers who are the biggest spenders are looking for the highest potency at the lowest price, and celebrity brands vary in quality while generally carrying a higher price tag. In California, the average cost of a typical 3.5-gram bag of flower is around $23.14, while Tyson 2.0 sells for about $28.44, a 23% difference.
Tyson 2.0’s success can be credited to Tyson’s hands-on approach to customers and his company, the business’s aggressive expansion into new markets such as New York and Maryland, and its product quality, Laferla said.
“Your name may get someone to try it once,” he said. “But your brand and the quality of your product is what’s going to get people coming back.”
Yuvraj Singh, president and CEO of Strain Stars on Long Island, said customers are already returning for Tyson’s weed. His customers bought $30,000 of Tyson 2.0 flower on the first day of sales, and the cannabis line is already one of the store’s five bestsellers.
“The word’s gotten out that it’s a very nice, clean high,” he said.
Coss Marte, co-owner and CEO of Conbud, said his dispensary has also had repeat customers after selling $10,000 of Tyson 2.0 in an hour, roughly as much as the dispensary typically makes in a day.
Tyson has emphasized the therapeutic role of cannabis in his transformation from a brash boxing champion to a disciplined business owner. Less than 10 years ago, he said in an interview, he was broke and struggling with a cocaine addiction. Now, he owns one of the most successful celebrity cannabis brands in the country.
He said his goal is to solidify his legacy as a trailblazer in cannabis. “That’s more important to me than making money,” he said.