Chap.1 Overview of Marketing- Brief History
Gatorade was introduced in 1965 to the researchers at the University of Florida by an assistant coach of the Florida Gators. He was curious as to why his players were so tired and becoming sick, as a cause of the heat from the sun. Thus gatorade was created in order to help these players replace the fluid and nutrients lost during practice and games. It was tested on a few players and the test was considered a success. During the 1965 season, the first with the Gatorade formula, the Gators had a season where they beat many teams by being able to withstand the heat. This gave them the upper-hand thanks to the other teams only relying on water. During the next season the Gators won their first ever Orange Bowl, which gave Gatorade national attention. The coach of the team who faced them during the Orange Bowl, said that their reason for losing was because they didn't have Gatorade. The demand for Gatorade, now on the rise, was something every team needed in order to even the playing field in terms of hydration.
The rights to sell Gatorade were purchased by Stokely-Van Camp, Inc. in 1967. By 1969, the coach of the Gators suggested to the Kanas City Chiefs to use Gatorade to combat against the heat. The team felt it was helpful during the training camp held in summer, that they had it on their benches throughout the entire 1969 season. The Chiefs ended up winning the Super Bowl IV, and similar to how the college scene reacted, the amount of teams having Gatorade on their sidelines grew and grew until the year 1983. This year, Gatorade became the official sports drink of the National Football League and is still the drink used today.
Quaker Oats Company purchased Gatorade in 1983 for 220million dollars and in 2001 PepsiCo purchased Quaker Oats Company for 13billion dollars. AS of today Gatorade is being sold in more than 80 countries and is the official drink of NFL, MLB, NBA, WNBA, NHL, MLS, and many other professional and collegiate sports teams.
