In the mid-1960s, a revolutionary idea brewed within the walls of the University of Florida, leading to the creation of Gatorade. The sports drink would redefine athletic hydration and become a global phenomenon.
The Birth of Gatorade
The start of Gatorade traces back to Dr. Robert Cade, a nephrologist at the University of Florida. Cade. Along with his colleagues Dr. Dana Shires, Dr. Alejandro de Quesada, and Dr. Jim Free, they embarked on a quest to solve a perplexing problem: Why didn’t football players urinate after games? The prevailing belief at the time was that consuming fluids during sports led to cramps, so players avoided drinking water, leading to severe dehydration.
The Science Behind the Drink
Cade’s team discovered that the players were losing significant amounts of water and sodium, and their blood sugar levels were dropping. Their solution was a water-based drink containing salt, glucose, and phosphate. This concoction, initially served from a red wagon on the sidelines, proved to be a game-changer. The Florida Gators football team, after consuming this drink, showed a strong improvement in their performance, especially in the latter stages of games.
Gatorade Gains National Attention
The drink, named Gatorade in honor of the Gators, gained national attention after a sports writer for the Miami Herald, Neil Amdur, wrote about it following the team’s Orange Bowl appearance in 1966. The publicity set Gatorade apart from other similar sports drinks of the time, like Florida State University’s “Seminole Water” and the University of Nebraska’s “Huskerade.”
Realizing the potential of their invention, Cade and his team approached the University of Florida, seeking support to commercialize Gatorade. However, the university, lacking a system for handling such innovations, showed no interest. Undeterred, Cade took a $500 loan for bottling supplies and struck a deal with Stokely-Van Camp, an Indianapolis-based canned food company. The agreement was based on a royalty structure, initially set at 5 cents per gallon sold.
Gatorade’s Rise and Legal Battles
Within a few years, Gatorade dominated the sports drink market, prompting the University of Florida to recognize its missed opportunity. In 1971, the university filed a lawsuit against the Gatorade Trust, seeking 100% of the royalties. The legal battle was complex, involving issues of intellectual property and the fact that Cade’s research was federally funded, not university-sponsored.
Settlement and University Windfall
The resolution of this dispute was an 80-20 split in favor of the Gatorade Trust, with the University of Florida receiving 20% of the royalties. This settlement has proven to be immensely lucrative for the university. By 2015, it had earned $250 million in royalties according to ESPN, with annual revenues of around $20 million in recent years.
Gatorade’s success made its inventors wealthy and also changed the University of Florida’s approach to intellectual property. Today, the university patents around 140 inventions each year and has significantly improved its system for capitalizing on faculty inventions. What started as a simple solution to a hydration problem, has grown into a billion-dollar brand.
