RYTHM Expands Chicago Venue Network With Navy Pier Partnership

RYTHM, Inc. (RYM ) has secured Navy Pier as a multiyear venue partner, bringing the company’s hemp-derived THC beverages to the Chicago landmark that draws more than 8 million visitors each year. The deal, announced May 8, 2026, and set to launch May 22, 2026, names RYTHM the pier’s official THC beverage brand — the latest move in what is becoming a systematic push to anchor the product inside Chicago’s highest-traffic entertainment destinations.

The partnership centers on the RYTHM Stage in the Navy Pier Beer Garden, where RYTHM will run events, pop-ups, product sampling, and seasonal programming throughout the summer. Guests can buy RYTHM’s Sativa and Kush beverages — 12-ounce cans dosed at 5 milligrams of hemp-derived THC — at the Beer Garden and at select bars and retail points across the Pier. The Señorita THC Margaritas brand, also part of RYTHM, Inc.’s portfolio, will be sold alongside the RYTHM lineup. Each product is designed around a distinct effect profile: Sativa is formulated as an energizing option with natural caffeine; Kush positions as a calming alternative with CBD and l-theanine. Navy Pier has described this as its largest summer of Pier-produced programming yet, meaning the launch coincides with the season’s peak visitor volume.

Venue by Venue

The Navy Pier deal follows a pattern RYTHM has been building across Chicago’s concert and event circuit. Earlier in 2026, the United Center — which houses the Chicago Bulls and Blackhawks and ranks among the country’s busiest arena venues — named RYTHM, Inc. its official THC sponsor, making Señorita and RYTHM the first THC beverages available at a major U.S. arena. The brands are also on the menu across Chicago’s 16″ on Center venues, including The Salt Shed, Thalia Hall, and The Empty Bottle, as well as Jam Productions venues including Riviera Theatre, Park West, and The Vic.

What’s taking shape is a venue account strategy layered into a single dense urban market. Each agreement isn’t a standalone product placement — it’s a named partnership with a branded stage installation, exclusive programming, and a predictable high-volume sales surface built around it. Ben Kovler, chairman and interim CEO of RYTHM, Inc., described the logic: “Consumers are choosing THC, and the venues they love are responding.”

Navy Pier is the latest and the largest by visitor count. Eight million annual visitors at a single Chicago destination represents retail exposure that few licensed Illinois cannabis dispensaries can approach. The multiyear commitment from Navy Pier, rather than a one-season pilot, signals that the venue sees THC beverages as a durable revenue category. Elizabeth Halajian, Navy Pier’s chief of advancement, described the partnership as helping the organization sustain its role as a cultural destination while supporting the free public programming that anchors the pier’s summer calendar.

Hemp’s Distribution Advantage

What makes venue deals like this structurally possible is the product classification. RYTHM’s beverage lineup is formulated from hemp-derived THC, not regulated cannabis plant material. In Illinois — and in other markets where hemp-derived intoxicating products are permitted in general commerce — that classification determines what kinds of retailers and venues can carry the product. Entertainment destinations and general retailers can stock hemp-derived THC beverages outside the licensed dispensary framework that governs state-regulated cannabis. That’s the distribution channel opening RYTHM has been building into since the brand launched its hemp beverage line.

RYTHM, Inc. traces its brand portfolio to Green Thumb Industries, the Chicago-based cannabis operator that built the RYTHM brand over roughly a decade. The company now holds a consumer packaged goods portfolio that includes RYTHM, Señorita, Dogwalkers, Beboe, incredibles, and several other brands, and it trades on Nasdaq under the ticker RYM — confirmed in the company’s May 8, 2026, announcement. According to trade reporting, the hemp-derived beverage line got its start in Illinois and New Jersey before expanding nationally in late 2025. It now spans over 6,000 retail and venue locations nationwide, with mainstream retailers including Target adding hemp-derived THC beverages to select store pilots.

A more detailed look at RYTHM Inc.’s brand structure is available here.

For brand managers and operators watching how hemp-derived THC beverages are carving out distribution territory in Illinois and beyond, the Navy Pier agreement adds a clear data point. RYTHM is building a Chicago venue network where named brand partnerships — not licensed retail shelf space — are the anchor. Navy Pier’s 8 million annual visitors, the United Center’s arena crowds, and the city’s mid-size music venue circuit together constitute a distribution footprint that the state-licensed cannabis channel, confined to dispensary retail, structurally cannot match.