Gatorade Sweats the Competition | Searching for a Solution | 1

0:14It's a humid summer evening in Gainesville, Florida in 1965. 37-year-old Dr. Robert Cade plops down on the living room sofa in his modest ranch house, exhausted. His wife, Mary, puts a hand on his shoulder as Cade takes off his thick glasses. The breeze from their rotary fan cools his overheated face. How was work, Bob? Well, Mary, I'll be honest, it wasn't great. After work, the fellas and I stopped by the Thirsty Gator for a pint or two just to talk about it. When Cade says the fellas, he means his research team. Cade is a world-renowned nephrologist, that's a kidney specialist at the University of Florida.

0:54And for weeks, he and his researchers have been working on a special assignment. Players on the university's football team, the Florida Gators, have been collapsing on the field from dehydration. The football stadium is built on swampland, and the extreme humidity makes an 80-degree day feel unbearable, even before the tackling drills start. But Kate and the team think they found a solution. As in, a literal solution. A drink that will replenish the salts and fluids athletes lose when they sweat. Nothing like this exists on the market. It's a real breakthrough for science and for sports. Or at least, Cade had thought so, until he tasted it.

1:40Oh, Mary, you wouldn't believe how awful it was. Now, Bob, how bad could it be? Well, let me put it this way. As soon as I tried it, I threw up. So that's not good. Oh, no, probably not. For Dr. Cade, this setback is worse than just a queasy stomach. People are counting on him. The University of Florida has given him time and personnel for this project. They've even given him access to their student-athletes so he can conduct experiments on the football players. And he doesn't want to come up empty-handed. But the stakes also go far beyond this one team at this one school. At this point in the 1960s, as many as 25 football players around the U.S.

2:29are dying from heat-related illnesses each year thanks to a poor understanding of hydration and a mistaken belief among coaches that playing through thirst builds physical toughness. As a physician, Cade knows how dangerous this thinking really is. But he also knows just how stubborn coaches and trainers can be, especially if their teams are winning. Dr. Cade will have to demonstrate that his solution helps athletic performance. But he can only do this if the players can actually choke it down. Mary rubs her husband's back in sympathy. Then suddenly, she stops. Bob, what if you added lemon juice?

3:14Would that help? Well, Mary, you're a genius. Where are you going? Well, to buy some lemons, of course. Are you okay to drive? Oh, I'll be fine. Just fine. And with that, Cade rushes to the nearest grocery and then barges into his lab with 60 lemons and a wild look in his eye. He doesn't know it yet, but these lemons are about to transform the very first prototype of the world's first electrolyte sports drink, Gatorade. This beverage will not only make the Florida Gators famous, it will invent the sports drink category, which is now a$29 billion a year global industry. But Dr. Cade set out to solve a medical problem, not build an empire.

4:06And as Gatorade grows far beyond the lab where it began, it will face a new question. How do you keep improving a solution once the world starts copying it? Inventing a category is only the beginning, because once you define what sports hydration is, you're also responsible for keeping that definition relevant. Even as the science changes, the competition grows and the stakes get higher. The question isn't whether Gatorade will become big. It's whether the drink that wrote the rules can keep rewriting them.

4:56From Audible Originals, I'm David Brown, and this is Business Wars.

5:23When Dr. Robert Cade and a small team of kidney specialists invented Gatorade over 60 years ago, the beverage aisles of American grocery stores looked pretty different. You might see green glass bottles of Coke and Pepsi along with RC Cola, Dr. Pepper, and other carbonated Colas. What you wouldn't see are today's long rows of electrolyte-enhanced sports drinks from Gatorade to Powerade to Body Armor and beyond, all promising something more than just refreshment. They promised performance. Gatorade didn't just enter this market. It created it. And in doing so, it taught generations of athletes, from high school players to Olympic champions, how to think about sweat, thirst, and endurance.

6:09The first lemony experiment in a Gainesville lab became the blueprint for an entire industry. But creating a category, that's one thing. Staying on top is another. And as sports science evolves and as new brands promise cleaner, smarter, or more personalized hydration, Gatorade faces a different kind of challenge. The company that once defined sports hydration must operate in a world where that definition is constantly changing. This three-part series follows Gatorade's journey from the gridiron to the grocery aisle, and then to its heights as a billion-dollar empire. But as the rules of performance drinks change and more competitors enter the market, Gatorade now faces a different kind of challenge.

6:59Is it still driving the conversation on hydration? Or chasing it? This is Episode 1, Searching for a Solution.

7:16It's late spring 1965 at the University of Florida. In the cafeteria, Dwayne Douglas grabs a tray of turkey tetrazzini and looks for a seat. Douglas is in his 30s. He's a large man who played offensive tackle for the Florida Gators before becoming an assistant coach for the team. These days he balances coaching with his security job, keeping watch over the university's hospital. And Douglas is about to cause these two worlds to collide. As Douglas scans the cafeteria, he sees the man he's been looking for, Dana Shires, a research fellow in the school's department of renal medicine. Shires is a friend and an up-and-coming kidney doctor, so he's the perfect person to answer the question that's been troubling Douglas.

8:02Hey, Dana, can I sit down? It's your thing, Dwayne. So, you know I coach on the football team, right? Yeah, sure. How's it going with Coach Graves? I heard he's tough. Well, he's old school. And if it ain't broke, don't fix it kind of guy, you know what I mean? He doesn't actually know I'm telling you this, by the way, but... Well, we had a bad weekend. A couple dozen players got sent to the infirmary for heat exhaustion. Good Lord, that's terrible. Does this happen often? Well, not always this bad, but yeah, sure, especially in the summer. Well, are the players drinking water during practice?

8:40Well, yeah, some of them are. Coach Graves isn't that old school, but back when I was playing, if we got thirsty, we were lucky to get a wet towel to suck on. Maybe one of them salt tablets. Coaches were worried about players getting bloated or cramping up, but I know these guys are still losing a ton of water weight, just like I used to. In fact, well, I'm not sure this part's fit for lunchtime conversation. Okay, I stand warned. Well, they're not peeing during practice, Dana. Whatever water they are drinking, I don't think it's sticking around. Shires keeps asking Douglas questions, and soon a clearer picture starts to emerge.

9:20It sure sounds like classic dehydration, But as a scientist, he knows he can't be definitive until he gets some data. Shires promises he'll bring the issue to his boss, Dr. Cade. When Cade hears about the possible dehydration issue, he wants to help. Cade is a former athlete himself. As a high school track star in Texas, he used to run a 420 mile. And as a Texan, he understands the dangers of overexertion in hot climates. So Cade grabs Shires and a handful of other research fellows from the renal medicine department, and they head to the Florida Gators training office to meet up with Coach Graves.

10:00They'll need his permission before they even try to run tests on his players, or tinker with their routines. Coach Graves listens to the doctor's pitch, and he has his doubts. He is pretty old school, just as Douglas described. And like many of his fellow coaches, he's wary of science getting in the way of sports. Today, sports medicine is a$7.3 billion a year global industry. But in the 1960s, the prevailing attitude among coaches is that trainers are for healthy players. Doctors are reserved for the sick or injured. But Coach Graves also knows the doctors are responding to a real issue. During the 1965 spring preseason alone, more than 20 Gators have gone to the hospital for dehydration, cramping, or even worse, heat stroke.

10:51If these doctors want to try and find a solution for that problem, maybe it couldn't hurt to let them. Graves and Cade reach an agreement. The researchers can run their tests, on the condition that they limit themselves to the freshman squad. Freshmen aren't allowed to play in varsity games, so whatever the research is, it won't interfere with the Gators' regular game schedule. For a week, Cade's researchers collect blood and urine samples, both pre - and post-workout. They also collect the player's sweat during practices using watertight suits, including rubber gloves and booties, which they periodically empty into measuring containers.

11:31The scientists measure the volume of sweat as well as the level changes in the player's electrolytes, meaning salt compounds like sodium, potassium, and magnesium. After their week of testing, Cade's research team looks at the data, and it's pretty startling. Some players are losing up to 9 pounds of water weight per practice and up to 25 % of their body's sodium content. These athletes are losing massive amounts of salt and water. And this is what leads Dr. Cade and his team to make a bold move. Invent a drinkable solution to replace both.

12:15It's October 1965. A game is in progress on the Gators' home turf. Assistant Coach Douglas paces nervously on the sidelines, even though the game is supposed to be low stakes. This is the Toilet Bowl, a weekly scrimmage between the freshman squad and the varsity B team. No one on the field right now is even a regular starter, but the pressure is on nonetheless. Because today's matchup is also the first test run of Cade's new glucose and electrolyte solution, which the team has been calling Cade's Cola. The varsity B team as the control group is drinking water. And the freshmen coached by Douglas, they're drinking the experimental beverage.

12:57Even as second stringers, the varsity B team players tend to be bigger and stronger than their freshman counterparts. So most years, they win the toilet bowl. And sure enough, at halftime, this year's freshmen are down 13-0. But then, in the second half, when players usually start to dehydrate and cramp up, the varsity B team fades. In fact, they don't score another touchdown the entire game. Meanwhile, the freshmen, fueled by their electrolyte solution, start lighting up the field. Douglas can't believe it when the freshmen win the game. And even head coach Graves starts to think the real victory belongs to Cade's Cola.

13:41But this was just the practice run. The real test will come when the varsity players test it out. The next day, the varsity team has a game that actually matters. a conference matchup against the number five-ranked LSU Tigers. The Tigers are heavy favorites, but the Gators are fired up with their secret weapon. On the sidelines are gallons of Cade's cola, which Cade and his researchers mixed up the night before. So far, the varsity players had no part of this experiment. They just watched and laughed as the freshmen ran drills in plastic gloves. But all that's about to change. The starters gather around Dr.

14:25Cade in the cooler full of his mystery drink. Hey, Doc, what is this stuff? It's an electrolyte solution. It's got sodium, potassium, and glucose, which is the simplest form of sugar the body can break down. Basically, whatever you sweat out during the game, this is supposed to replace it. And the glucose will give you energy that your body can absorb a whole lot faster than water. So I think you'll feel stronger in the third and fourth quarters when the other team's fading. Heck, I'm sold. It's 100 degrees today. We need all the help we can get. Yeah, I'll try it too.

15:03This stuff tastes like piss. At least it's cold, though. And with that, the player dumps the drink over his own head. Unfortunately, despite Mary Cade's helpful suggestion to add lemon juice, Cade's cola still tastes more like a sweaty glove than a refreshing lemonade. But regardless, it seems to do the trick. Despite being underdogs in the matchup, the Florida Gators beat the number five-ranked LSU Tigers 14-7. And now, everyone on the team is a believer. Now, come on, let's be honest. We don't really know how much caged drink factored into that win over LSU. Could have been strategy, adrenaline, just a lucky Saturday.

15:53But in business, perception often moves faster than proof. Early wins don't need to survive a peer-reviewed journal. They just need to be repeatable stories people want to believe. And if your product shows up alongside success, well, people will connect the dots for you. In fact, if the Gators had lost that game with LSU, Well, in the words of one of Gatorade's inventors, you probably never would have heard of Gatorade again.

16:24Dr. Cade's foul-tasting lemonade soon becomes a regular staple on the gator's sidelines, and one of his researchers christens it with a new name, Gatorade. That's A, spelled A-D-E, by the way, not A-I-D. The scientists don't want people interpreting the A-I-D spelling as suggesting that this is medicine, which would require extensive clinical trials. Dr. Cade's team starts pumping out vats of this stuff in the basement of the pharmacy school, and the Florida Gators go on to have a winning season, which further boosts everyone's confidence in Gatorade. But even as the winds pile up, a conflict is brewing.

17:05Right now, Gatorade is only for the Florida Gators. It's their own secret weapon. But soon, Dr. Cade starts thinking there may be a bigger market out there for his invention. Could Caterade be the University of Florida's best-kept secret? Or an elixir to hydrate the entire world?

17:44It's fall 1966 at the University of Florida. Dr. Cade sits in the quiet, air-conditioned office of Vincent Learned, director of the school's sponsored research program. Cade doesn't like spending time in the university's administrative buildings. He'd rather be in the lab. But today, he's come here for one thing. Money. Vincent, I don't think I have to tell you how much Gatorade's helped our football team these past two seasons. In fact, I'd say it's kept dozens of boys out of the hospital for heat stroke. And they're on their way to setting a new school record even as we speak. Well, that might have a little something to do with our coach, don't you think?

18:22Plus that quarterback of ours. What an arm on that kid. But yeah, okay, all right, I take your point. Well, here's the problem. My team is exhausted. Collectively, my researchers and I have spent some 150 hours on unpaid personal time developing, producing this stuff. And now Coach Graves is ordering gallons of it for every game and every practice, all while I'm supposed to be running my department. You know, it's absurd. Surely you're not paying for supplies out of your own pockets. No, no, that's not it. We charge the football team per gallon to cover basic costs. But that doesn't cover our time.

18:57Not staying up until 2 a.m. to squeeze hundreds of lemons, that sort of thing. Well, what do you propose, Dr. Cade? Well, I propose the university develop and sell Gatorade as a commercial product. It'll help us scale up production and make things more efficient. Better yet, it'll make money for the school. You know how many other football teams would benefit from hydration science? Hey, how many basketball teams, gymnastics teams, any other athletic pursuit you can think of? How much money could we make from this stuff? I don't know. But don't you think Gators fans might take issue with us selling our secret weapon to our opponents?

19:34Now look, Gatorade isn't just about winning games. It's about saving players everywhere from the emergency room. Look, I'll tell you what. You can take your pick. This school can buy Gatorade's formula from us outright. Or you could invest. We keep developing it. Give us, say, uh, I don't know,$10 ,000 so we can scale up production. Once we start selling it to other programs, the money we make will cover your costs right there. It's basically a free roll. Then we can split the profits right down the middle. What do you say? Listen, Dr. Cade, I know you're excited, but it's just not that easy. Of all the inventions this school's helped develop, only about two of every 20 actually end up succeeding commercially.

20:19And if it fails, well, guess who gets fired? Me. Vincent, come on, be logical. Sorry, my mind's made up. If you and your team want to try to make some money off Gatorade, I'm not going to stop you. But the university is not in the business of investing in soft drinks. Now look, I got another meeting coming up. You can see your way out, all right? And here we are. This is the moment when a passion project turns into a business decision. Cade and his team weren't short on belief. They were short on time, sleep, and money for all their labor. A lot of founders hit this wall without even realizing it.

20:59The product works, demand is growing, but the money side is unsustainable. Scaling isn't really about ambition. It's about survival. If your idea can't support the people behind it, something's got to change. Still, you've got to wonder if this wasn't the biggest loss in Gator history. Five figures of university funds for a long-term stake in the profits of Gatorade? Sure sounds to me like the fumble of the century. Now at this point, you might be asking yourself, hold on, is Gatorade even Dr. Cade's to sell? Wasn't Gatorade developed using at least some university resources? Even if the scientists did use their own unpaid time and bought their own lemons?

21:45Well, let's put a pin in that question. We'll come back to it later. but in reality, the issue of IP is rarely entirely clean-cut. Think of Facebook. Famously, Mark Zuckerberg was accused of intellectual property theft by the Winklevoss twins, who had once hired him to work on their own social network Harvard Connection, remember? That case dragged on for years, without either side being fully satisfied. The only way to really clear up ownership issues is to get the deal terms in writing. Otherwise, you may end up having to settle your differences in court. But let's get back to the action, shall we?

22:26With a definitive no from the university, Dr. Cade and his team have a choice. Try to keep up with the football team's needs as best they can. Or become entrepreneurs and bring Gatorade to the wider world. You can guess which option they chose. But executing their plan takes a bit of patience and a lot of luck. First, Cade takes out a small bank loan,$500, just under$5 ,000 today, to help with production costs. Next, the team figures out a couple of tweaks to their original formula and design. They start buying lemon juice concentrates so they won't get cramped hands from squeezing lemons anymore.

23:09They also start experimenting with new flavors, including grape, mint, and even coffee. And instead of mixing up great vats to keep on ice on the sidelines, they start packaging the drink in individual pint cartons obtained from the university's Dairy Sciences Department. And by chance, it's these pints that score Gatorade's first major write-up in the press. In November 1966, a reporter from the Miami Herald spots the white cartons piled up on the gators' sidelines. Knowing the gators are having an incredible year, The reporter wonders if those cartons might have something to do with their success.

23:51The reporter approaches Coach Graves after the game. Uh, hey, Coach, you giving your players milk? Graves shrugs. Oh, we've been fooling around with this stuff for a while now. Then Graves lets the reporter know he's done answering questions and suggests he speak with Dr. Cade for further comment. And Cade does not disappoint. On November 30th, an article runs in the Miami Herald Sports section with the headline, Gatorade, the key to UF's success? With this one article, Gatorade becomes more than a sideline secret. The story is picked up in other outlets and becomes a talking point for their opponents.

24:35In January 1967, when Florida beats Georgia Tech in the Orange Bowl, the Georgia Tech coach tells Graves, quote, We didn't have Gatorade. That made the difference. And it's exactly this winning association that will propel Gatorade to its next phase.

24:58It's March 1967. In downtown Indianapolis, Dana Shires is slowly walking into a squat concrete building. He's holding two mason jars full of sloshy liquid as he heads into the worldwide headquarters of Stokely Van Camp, a major canned food company. Shires isn't alone. Beside him is Kent Bradley, the cheerful, outgoing friend who set up this meeting with the canned food giant. Bradley knows the Gatorade inventors are looking to license their product. And through the social grapevine of Indianapolis, Bradley has met a potential buyer. Alfred Stokely, chairman of the Stokely Van Camp board. Stokely Van Camp has been around since the 1930s.

25:43They're best known for their canned pork and beans and for inventing the C-ration, which fed hundreds of thousands of Allied soldiers during World War II. They're a less than obvious landing spot for an electrolyte sports drink, but the Stokely family also happens to be well connected to the world of college sports. As dedicated boosters for the University of Tennessee, they've seen Gatorade in action, including against their own team, the Volunteers. Just knowing this is the stuff that powered the Florida Gators to an Orange Bowl victory is reason enough to hear what Shires and Bradley have to say.

26:21The sales pitch kicks off in the posh corner office of Hank Warren, Stokely's vice president and director of sales. Warren is a former Marine with impeccable posture. and a twinkle in his eye that suggests he's got a sense of humor. Bradley does most of the talking, smiling widely and trying not to think about how out of place those mason jars look on Warren's big wooden desk. He describes the power of electrolytes and how they ate absorption of fluids and nutrition in the body. Most of all, he talks about the Florida Gators' charmed 1966 season and how it was all thanks to Gatorade. But then, it's time for the Stokely executives to taste what's in the jars.

27:05Warren and his top sales manager each unscrew the metal lid off a jar and take a sip. Shires and Bradley exchange glances. This moment might just tank their pitch. Thing is, even after over a year in development, Cade's team still never managed to get the flavor quite right. Mint, grape, coffee, original lemon, doesn't matter. Because the one thing they haven't been able to add is the one thing that might make it taste good. Refined sugar. Refined sugar slows the drink's absorption in the body. And fast absorption is one of Gatorade's signature features. Meanwhile, the one kind of sugar it does contain, glucose, doesn't taste as sweet as other sugars.