A football coach's curiosity as to why his players did not pee during a game was the impetus for the development of Gatorade sports drink. The coach, Dewayne Douglas, was an assistant to Ray Graves, who was the head football coach of the Gators football team at the University of Florida. Douglas also worked security for the health center at the university, where he met doctors Robert Cade and Dana Shires, to whom he conveyed his observation about his players. Doctors Cade and Shires quickly determined that dehydration from excessive sweating was the culprit and started researching and experimenting how to prevent such dehydration. At the time (1965), football players did not drink water during a game because it could cause stomach cramps. In addition, many football coaches believed that doing without water made their players tougher.
Through their research and experimentation, doctors Cade and Shires, together with Dr. Jim Free and Dr. Alex DeQuesada (a recent Cuban emigre) learned that the blood volume of athletes (such as football players) drops precipitously when they are exercising strenuously in the heat. This drop in blood volume results in a reduction of blood being being pumped to the skin. With less blood being pumped to the skin, less heat is being carried away from the skin through the evaporation of sweat. As a result, excessive sweat is produced and mostly drips off an athlete's body without evaporating. Excessive sweating further reduces blood volume, which further interferes with heat shedding and eventually leads to excessive water loss (dehydration) through sweating.
The excessive loss of water increases the concentration of sodium in the blood since more water than sodium is lost proportionally during sweating. The higher sodium concentration causes confusion and slow reaction times in athletes, and, in extreme cases, can lead to convulsions, loss of consciousness and even death. This unhealthy increase in sodium concentration was often aggravated by well-meaning, but misguided coaches and trainers who gave their players salt pills to replace the sodium that was lost when the players perspired.
The doctors (Cade, Shires, Free and DeQuesada) determined that the key to preventing dehydration was to keep a player's blood volume at a proper level by getting water into the player's body during exercise as quickly as possible. Further research revealed that water was quickly absorbed through the small intestine if the water contained the right amount of electrolytes and glucose (blood sugar).
Armed with the information they learned about dehydration, the doctors formulated a sports drink that included sodium, potassium and glucose. The first iteration of the sports drink tasted awful and was promptly spit out by Dr. Cade and a number of other test subjects. Testers variously described the drink as tasting like toilet bowl cleaner or urine. To improve the taste, the doctors added lemon juice, which made the drink at least somewhat palatable.
Through their research and experimentation, doctors Cade and Shires, together with Dr. Jim Free and Dr. Alex DeQuesada (a recent Cuban emigre) learned that the blood volume of athletes (such as football players) drops precipitously when they are exercising strenuously in the heat. This drop in blood volume results in a reduction of blood being being pumped to the skin. With less blood being pumped to the skin, less heat is being carried away from the skin through the evaporation of sweat. As a result, excessive sweat is produced and mostly drips off an athlete's body without evaporating. Excessive sweating further reduces blood volume, which further interferes with heat shedding and eventually leads to excessive water loss (dehydration) through sweating.
The excessive loss of water increases the concentration of sodium in the blood since more water than sodium is lost proportionally during sweating. The higher sodium concentration causes confusion and slow reaction times in athletes, and, in extreme cases, can lead to convulsions, loss of consciousness and even death. This unhealthy increase in sodium concentration was often aggravated by well-meaning, but misguided coaches and trainers who gave their players salt pills to replace the sodium that was lost when the players perspired.
The doctors (Cade, Shires, Free and DeQuesada) determined that the key to preventing dehydration was to keep a player's blood volume at a proper level by getting water into the player's body during exercise as quickly as possible. Further research revealed that water was quickly absorbed through the small intestine if the water contained the right amount of electrolytes and glucose (blood sugar).
Armed with the information they learned about dehydration, the doctors formulated a sports drink that included sodium, potassium and glucose. The first iteration of the sports drink tasted awful and was promptly spit out by Dr. Cade and a number of other test subjects. Testers variously described the drink as tasting like toilet bowl cleaner or urine. To improve the taste, the doctors added lemon juice, which made the drink at least somewhat palatable.
The first major trial of the doctors' new sports drink came in early October of 1965, during a football scrimmage between the Gators' B team and the freshman team, disparagingly called the "Toilet Bowl". Coach Graves gave the doctors permission to provide the freshman players with their new sports drink. In the first half of the game, the B team dominated the freshman team and were ahead 13-0 at half time. The second half was completely different. The freshman team pushed the B team around, scoring two or three touchdowns in the third period and an additional five or six in the fourth quarter. In fact, the B team did not even make a first down in the fourth quarter. The turnaround was so dramatic and so clearly attributable to the doctors' sports drink that Coach Graves asked Dr. Cade if he could provide the first string varsity team with the sports drink for their game against LSU (Louisiana State University) the next day. Dr. Cade said he could, not knowing that he was short one of the primary ingredients.
That night, the doctors went to work creating a new batch of their sports drink. To their dismay, they learned that they did not have enough glucose. Luckily, Dewayne Douglas (working security) happened to stop by and learned of the doctors' predicament. He had keys to all of the labs in the health center, which enabled the doctors to rummage through the labs and come up with enough glucose to make the batch of sports drink for the next day's game.
The following day was blistering hot, with the temperature on the field at game time well over 100º F. The game proceeded similar to the day before. LSU came out strong and pushed the Gators around in the first half, leading 13-0 at half-time, but then wilted in the second half. With the help of the doctors' sports drink, the Gators dominated the second half and ended up winning 14-13. Coach Graves was impressed and decided that henceforth the sports drink would be used at all Gators football games. Shortly thereafter, Dr. Free coined the name "Gatorade" for the sports drink as a play on "lemonade". The stage was now set for "Gatorade" sports drink to become the most successful sports drink in history.
After their success in the fall of 1965, Dr. Cade began to think about commercializing the Gatorade sports drink. In 1966, he approached the university and inquired whether they would help fund the commercialization, offering them a 50% share in the profits. Believing the venture to be too speculative, the university declined Dr. Cade's offer, but gave him the go-ahead to keep producing the sports drink. Undaunted, Dr. Cade took out a bank loan and proceeded to make several hundred gallons of Gatorade just before the 1966 football season. The Gators' football team again used Gatorade during the 1966 season and improved their record to 8-2 from the prior season's 6-4 record. The Gators' basketball team also started using Gatorade in the 1966-1967 season.
In addition to the Gators' athletic teams, Gatorade was provided to several other universities, as well as to high schools and the professional boxer, Jerry Quarry. Unfortunately, the doctors made very little money on these transactions. They did, however, gain publicity from the press. This publicity, plus a fortuitous career move by one of the doctors at the university health center (Dr. Kent Bradley) gave the doctors the commercial breakthrough they were looking for.
Dr. Bradley took a position at the Indiana University medical school. Through connections he made at Indiana University, Dr. Bradley became acquainted with Alfred Stokely of Stokely-Van Camp and told him about the Gatorade sports drink that the doctors at the University of Florida had developed. Stokely became interested in Gatorade and presuaded Stokely-Van Camp to enter into negotiations with the doctors to obtain an interest in Gatorade. At about the same time, the doctors at the University of Florida formed a group called the Gatorade Trust to commercially exploit their new sports drink.
Initially, the Gatorade Trust wanted to sell their interest in Gatorade to Stokely-Van Camp for a lump sum of $1 million. However, Stokely-Van Camp was not completely convinced that Gatorade would be successful and balked at the $1 million lump sum. Due to this hesitancy, the parties instead agreed to an exclusive licensing arrangement in which Stokely-Van Camp would pay the Trust a royalty of 5 cents for every gallon of Gatorade sold. Ironically, this arrangment turned out to be much more lucrative for the Trust and its members. Rather than collecting a total sum of only $1 million, the Trust has, to date, collected over a billion dollars in royalties.
Soon after Stokely-Van Camp and the Gatorade Trust concluded their licensing arrangement, Stokely-Van Camp filed a U.S. patent application (on June 7, 1967) for the Gatorade sports drink and a federal trademark application (on September 21, 1967) for "GATORADE". Interestingly enough, the listed goods for the trademark application were: "fruit flavored soft drink and powder for making the same". No mention was made of sports or athletics.
Trouble started brewing about a year after the Gatorade Trust granted their exclusive license to Stokely-Van Camp. The press became aware of the licensing arrangement and learned that the University of Florida was not receiving any portion of the royalties. Stirring the pot of controversy, the press alleged misuse of public resources, even though the doctors had no contractual obligations to the university and developed Gatorade on the their own time and mostly used their own funds. The term "mostly" is used because the doctors arguably made use of $42 worth of supplies funded by the National Institute of Health (NIH).
The negative publicity surrounding the Gatorade licensing arrangement eventually led to the University of Florida filing a lawsuit against the Gatorade Trust and Stokely-Van Camp, which lawsuit was later joined by the NIH. Even though the University's position was fairly weak (as opposed to that of the NIH), the University pursued the lawsuit aggressively. After two years of litigation, the lawsuit was eventually settled. As part of the settlement, the Gatorade Trust agreed to give the University 20% of the royalties and Stokely-Van Camp agreed to give up its U.S. patent rights. For this reason, no U.S. patent ever issued for the Gatorade sports drink.
That night, the doctors went to work creating a new batch of their sports drink. To their dismay, they learned that they did not have enough glucose. Luckily, Dewayne Douglas (working security) happened to stop by and learned of the doctors' predicament. He had keys to all of the labs in the health center, which enabled the doctors to rummage through the labs and come up with enough glucose to make the batch of sports drink for the next day's game.
The following day was blistering hot, with the temperature on the field at game time well over 100º F. The game proceeded similar to the day before. LSU came out strong and pushed the Gators around in the first half, leading 13-0 at half-time, but then wilted in the second half. With the help of the doctors' sports drink, the Gators dominated the second half and ended up winning 14-13. Coach Graves was impressed and decided that henceforth the sports drink would be used at all Gators football games. Shortly thereafter, Dr. Free coined the name "Gatorade" for the sports drink as a play on "lemonade". The stage was now set for "Gatorade" sports drink to become the most successful sports drink in history.
After their success in the fall of 1965, Dr. Cade began to think about commercializing the Gatorade sports drink. In 1966, he approached the university and inquired whether they would help fund the commercialization, offering them a 50% share in the profits. Believing the venture to be too speculative, the university declined Dr. Cade's offer, but gave him the go-ahead to keep producing the sports drink. Undaunted, Dr. Cade took out a bank loan and proceeded to make several hundred gallons of Gatorade just before the 1966 football season. The Gators' football team again used Gatorade during the 1966 season and improved their record to 8-2 from the prior season's 6-4 record. The Gators' basketball team also started using Gatorade in the 1966-1967 season.
In addition to the Gators' athletic teams, Gatorade was provided to several other universities, as well as to high schools and the professional boxer, Jerry Quarry. Unfortunately, the doctors made very little money on these transactions. They did, however, gain publicity from the press. This publicity, plus a fortuitous career move by one of the doctors at the university health center (Dr. Kent Bradley) gave the doctors the commercial breakthrough they were looking for.
Dr. Bradley took a position at the Indiana University medical school. Through connections he made at Indiana University, Dr. Bradley became acquainted with Alfred Stokely of Stokely-Van Camp and told him about the Gatorade sports drink that the doctors at the University of Florida had developed. Stokely became interested in Gatorade and presuaded Stokely-Van Camp to enter into negotiations with the doctors to obtain an interest in Gatorade. At about the same time, the doctors at the University of Florida formed a group called the Gatorade Trust to commercially exploit their new sports drink.
Initially, the Gatorade Trust wanted to sell their interest in Gatorade to Stokely-Van Camp for a lump sum of $1 million. However, Stokely-Van Camp was not completely convinced that Gatorade would be successful and balked at the $1 million lump sum. Due to this hesitancy, the parties instead agreed to an exclusive licensing arrangement in which Stokely-Van Camp would pay the Trust a royalty of 5 cents for every gallon of Gatorade sold. Ironically, this arrangment turned out to be much more lucrative for the Trust and its members. Rather than collecting a total sum of only $1 million, the Trust has, to date, collected over a billion dollars in royalties.
Soon after Stokely-Van Camp and the Gatorade Trust concluded their licensing arrangement, Stokely-Van Camp filed a U.S. patent application (on June 7, 1967) for the Gatorade sports drink and a federal trademark application (on September 21, 1967) for "GATORADE". Interestingly enough, the listed goods for the trademark application were: "fruit flavored soft drink and powder for making the same". No mention was made of sports or athletics.
Trouble started brewing about a year after the Gatorade Trust granted their exclusive license to Stokely-Van Camp. The press became aware of the licensing arrangement and learned that the University of Florida was not receiving any portion of the royalties. Stirring the pot of controversy, the press alleged misuse of public resources, even though the doctors had no contractual obligations to the university and developed Gatorade on the their own time and mostly used their own funds. The term "mostly" is used because the doctors arguably made use of $42 worth of supplies funded by the National Institute of Health (NIH).
The negative publicity surrounding the Gatorade licensing arrangement eventually led to the University of Florida filing a lawsuit against the Gatorade Trust and Stokely-Van Camp, which lawsuit was later joined by the NIH. Even though the University's position was fairly weak (as opposed to that of the NIH), the University pursued the lawsuit aggressively. After two years of litigation, the lawsuit was eventually settled. As part of the settlement, the Gatorade Trust agreed to give the University 20% of the royalties and Stokely-Van Camp agreed to give up its U.S. patent rights. For this reason, no U.S. patent ever issued for the Gatorade sports drink.
Even though Stokely-Van Camp gave up its U.S. patent rights, it still retained its foreign patent rights. Stokely-Van Camp had filed a number of patent applications for Gatorade in countries other than the U.S., including Great Britain. The Great Britain patent application (GB1252781) issued as a patent in 1972 and expired in 1989. GB1252781 provides us with insight into the inventive features of the Gatorade sports drink. These features included an "aqueous beverage for replacing fluid lost by an individual during periods of vigorous physical activity in the quality and quantity lost" wherein a liter of the beverage contained from 0.3795 to 0.5980 grams of sodium (Na), 0.0587 to 0.1369 grams of potassium (K), 0.4165 to 0.6965 grams of chloride (Cl), 0.1283 to 0.3161 grams phosphate (PO4) and from 30 to 60 grams of glucose. The beverage could further include up to 10 grams of sucrose, as well as lemon, lime or orange extract. Further, the beverage could be carbonated.
All of Stokely-Van Camp's original patents on the Gatorade sports drink are now long expired. The original trademark registration for GATORADE, however, is still alive and is still owned by Stokely-Van Camp, Inc., even though Stokely-Van Camp, Inc. was bought by the Quaker Oats Company in 1983, who, in turn, was purchased by PepsiCo, Inc. in 2001.
All of Stokely-Van Camp's original patents on the Gatorade sports drink are now long expired. The original trademark registration for GATORADE, however, is still alive and is still owned by Stokely-Van Camp, Inc., even though Stokely-Van Camp, Inc. was bought by the Quaker Oats Company in 1983, who, in turn, was purchased by PepsiCo, Inc. in 2001.