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- [00:15]
David Brown
It's January 1999. A crowd of reporters is packed into the United center arena, home of the Chicago Bulls. ESPN is broadcasting live and the cameras are rolling. Six time NBA champion Michael Jordan leans into the microphone and makes an announcement. I am here to announce my retirement from the game of basketball. Yep, that's right. This is his second retirement. It's a massive moment for the world of sports and the world of advertising. Jordan is 35 years old and earning a reported $42 million a year in sponsorships from Wheaties to Hanes to Sara Lee and Gator. Across America, marketing executives are worried about how Jordan's retirement will play out for their brands. But Gatorade's parent company, Quaker Oats, is prepared. They already have a transition campaign in the works, including a spot that pairs Jordan with soccer phenom Mia Hamm. Future campaigns will expand their roster even further, featuring world class athletes like quarterback Peyton Manning, shortstop Derek Jeter, and more. Think of this as Jordan once Gatorade's exclusive spokesperson, passing the torch to the next generation of athletes. The first time Michael retired back in 1993, he caught everyone off guard. But Gatorade rolled with the punches. They shelved ads featuring Jordan in his Bulls jersey and pivoted to new campaigns that followed him into minor league baseball. And when there were whispers that Jordan might be unretiring in 1995, Gatorade responded with a mysterious ad featuring Michael climbing a mountain in search of the meaning of life. A spiritual guide gives him this advice. Life is a sport. Drink it up. That's what I'm thinking. Many viewers saw this cryptic ad as a clue. And sure enough, shortly after it aired, Michael announced his return to basketball, putting Gatorade right back at the center of Jordan's incredible career. Now, three years later, Jordan seems to be retiring for real. And watching Jordan sitting at the dais talking about hanging up his Bulls jersey for good, it's hard not to see the symbolism for Gatorade. Even if the company insists it's prepared for this transition, this moment carries a sobering reminder that no one stays on top forever. Not in sports, and certainly not in business. You're listening. Ad free on Audible from Audible Originals. I'm David Brown, and this is Business Wars. In the last episode, we traced how Gatorade became a powerhouse brand, fueled by a 25 year head start in sports drinks and the magnetic pull of the most famous athlete of the 1990s. But the 90s also brought new challengers to Gatorade's crown. And by the end of the decade, Gatorade's dominance had slipped from controlling 90% of the sports drink market to about 76%. And most of this decline came from one rival, Coca Cola's Powerade. By the year 2000, Powerade had become the clear number two sports drink in the US with Powerade gaining ground and Gatorade starting to show signs of age, the question becomes, just how far is Coca Cola willing to go to take down their biggest competitor? This is defending the title, the final episode in our three part series. It's late November 2000 in New York City. Inside a lavish conference room at the St. Regis Hotel, Doug Daft, the new CEO of Coca Cola, is leading a tense board meeting. Daft is an Australian in his late 50s who has worked at Coke for decades. But he's held the top job for less than a year. And the longer this meeting drags on, the less in charge he feels. Daft takes a sip of water and glances down at his watch. For almost five hours, Coca Cola's board has been debating whether to acquire Quaker oats for nearly $16 billion, and with it, the rights to Gatorade. Coming into this meeting, Daft thought the approval was a formality. He spent months hammering out the details with Quaker Oats executives. Quaker's leadership has approved the merger and all the pieces are in place. Daft even had promotional photos taken with Quaker CEO showing Daft holding a bottle of Gatorade and the Quaker CEO holding a Coke. All that remained was the board's rubber stamp. Or so Daft thought. But the board has made one thing clear today there will be no rubber stamp. Leading the opposition is a familiar name, legendary investor Warren Buffett, nicknamed the Oracle of Omaha. Buffett owns more Coca Cola stock than anyone else in the room. So when he clears his throat to speak, everyone goes quiet.
- [06:11]
Warren Buffett
Look, this is a lot of money to spend just to get our hands on Gatorade.
- [06:16]
David Brown
Daft pushes back with respect, Warren. This isn't just about acquiring Gatorade. It's about stopping Pepsi from acquiring Gatorade. They made their own bid for Quaker just this month.
- [06:27]
Warren Buffett
It's the right idea, Doug, but the wrong price. You're talking about nearly $16 billion. That's more than 10% of the entire Coca Cola corporation. And what will that buy us? Control of a category that's worth less than $3 billion total. Our analysts say adding Gatorade to our portfolio will grow our global sales less than 2% a year. Spending 10% to gain 2%, that's not a great deal.
- [06:54]
David Brown
But look at all the growth potential. Gatorade's still expanding. It accounted for more than a third of Quaker's profits last year. Plus, they're still the clear number one name in sports drinks. They're the official sponsor of nearly every major professional sports league.
- [07:08]
Warren Buffett
Not the National Hockey League. We already claimed that one for Powerade.
- [07:12]
David Brown
I'm just saying, Warren. We're the biggest soft drink brand. They're the biggest sports drink brand. If you can't beat them, join them. Right. But Doug, this deal doesn't just give us Gatorade.
- [07:22]
Warren Buffett
It saddles us with Quaker's food business as well. Cereals, oatmeal, rice, a roni. These are low margin products. And low margin is not what Coca Cola is about. That oatmeal is going to be like an anvil around our necks. I'm sorry, but I'm not going to approve this.
- [07:40]
David Brown
The meeting ends in shock. Daft steps out and makes a phone call he never expected to make. Embarrassed, he tells Quaker Otes that the acquisition they've spent months negotiating is dead. Those promotional photos, throw them in the trash. Coke's board has killed the deal. Losing Gatorade is a brutal blow. But inside Coca Cola, no one believes this war is truly over. If anything, the board's decision has only sharpened their resolve. Coke didn't buy Gatorade, so now they're going to beat it. The moment Coke bows out of the Quaker deal, Pepsi swoops in. Just two weeks after Coke's board meeting, Pepsi announces it will acquire quaker oats for $13.4 billion in stock. In many ways, this merger makes more sense than the deal ever did for Coke. Unlike Coca Cola, Pepsi's portfolio is chock full of food brands, including the snack food powerhouse, Frito Lay. Buying Quaker doesn't just give them Gatorade. Pepsi also gets Quaker's massive roster of granola bars, cereals and pancake mix. What might have been a drag on Coke's beverage focused business is a boon to Pepsi. At Pepsi headquarters, executives are also thrilled to have outmaneuvered Koch, their century old rival in the Cola wars. And as for the Gatorade team, this acquisition is all upside. Gatorade will get access to Pepsi's massive marketing and distribution networks. Even better, Pepsi will stop production on their competing sports drink, Allsport. Allsport hasn't exactly been a major player. Its market share peaked at just under 3%. Still, killing it off is just another reason Gatorade thinks this deal tastes sweet. Meanwhile, at Coca Cola, the mood is very different. Many Employees are bitter about losing Gatorade to their arch nemesis. Watching Pepsi scoop up the number one sports drink after Coke almost had it for themselves lights a serious competitive fire inside the company. In July 2001, Coca Cola relaunches Powerade with a new logo and a new formula. This version includes three different B vitamins not found in Gatorade. B vitamins are having a moment in the early 2000s, as studies have shown they're a heart healthy source of energy. They've been cropping up in everything from bran flakes to breakfast bars. Powerade leans into this trend, positioning itself as the sports drink that is more aligned with the times. Coke also revamps Powerade's endorsement strategy, leaning hard into the theme of power. They sign high profile athletes like Falcons, new rookie quarterback Michael Vick and tennis player Andy Roddick. Then Koch brings in Wyden and Kennedy, the ad agency behind some of Nike's most iconic ads, to create a $60 million ad campaign for Powerade. The result is a series of Powerade commercials where athletes appear to be so powerful, they seem to defy the laws of physics. In one spot, Vic throws a football the entire length of a stadium and into the upper deck. In another, Roddick's racket smashes a tennis ball so hard it embeds itself in the clay. The tagline, Very real Power shot in a handheld verite style. The ads look less like commercials and more like someone accidentally captured these feats of strength during practice. Look at that. Are you getting this right now?
- [11:35]
Indira Varma
Oh, no, no.
- [11:37]
David Brown
That's crazy. That is crazy. The campaign works. In August 2001, just before the Michael Vick ad debuts, Powerade controls about 15% of the US sports drink market. Less than a year later, they've gained more than three additional share points. But for Coca Cola, three points isn't enough. They want more. In 2002, Powerade replaces Gatorade as the official drink of NASCAR. And in 2003, Coke makes its boldest move yet. A play designed to out Gatorade. Gatorade. Powerade is about to claim King James.
- [12:29]
Indira Varma
I'm Indira Varma. And in the latest season of the Spy who we open the file on Larry Chin, the spy who outplayed Nixon. For decades, Chin was embedded deep inside US Intelligence. Then comes an opportunity. Richard Nixon's secret plan to reopen relations with China. Information Chin can place directly into Mao's hands. But the CIA has a weapon of their own. A Chinese mole ready to defect. How long until Chin's gig is up? Follow the spy who now, wherever you listen to podcasts,
- [13:14]
David Brown
It's August 2003. Gatorade's marketing director Andy Haro hesitates before picking up the phone again. It's been a tough morning. His phone has been ringing non stop with calls from reporters asking about the same piece of news. LeBron James. The 18 year old phenom, recently drafted number one overall, has just signed a six year deal. But it's not with Gatorade. As everyone expected, James will be the new face of Coca Cola's Powerade. Haro picks up the phone and glances down at the statement he knows by heart now, we do value LeBron. We think he's going to be a great NBA player. But this is a brand that doesn't need to lean on one athlete for marketing. It's a little rich coming from Gatorade, a brand that relied on Michael Jordan for years. The truth is Gatorade did try to sign LeBron after all, as a high school player, James won Gatorade's player of the year award twice. Scouts are already saying he's the second coming of Jordan. Talks began with high hopes on both sides. But then Gatorade heard the price tag somewhere around $2 million a year and it decided to walk away. Now Gatorade is left issuing carefully worded quotes to the press while Coca Cola and Powerade get to celebrate. For Coke, the timing is perfect. They recently pulled ads featuring their previous NBA spokesman, Kobe Bryant, after allegations surfaced that he committed sexual assault. LeBron James represents a clean break, a fresh start. But this is about more than damage control, it's also revenge. Back in 1991, Coca Cola balked at Jordan's fee, allowing Gatorade to swoop in and sign the young superstar. Now history is flipping. Gatorade passed on James, creating an opportunity for Coke and Powerade to step in. You know, I think something else is going on here too. And it's not about sticker shock, but two different ways of putting a price tag on the future. Things have changed since Gatorade and Coke were fighting for Jordan. For Coke, Jordan was a marketing spend back in the day. But for Gatorade, he was a strategic asset, a boost to Gatorade's credibility. Well, now that Gatorade's the category leader, it's Powerade that needs credibility. If you're at the top of a category, decisions like this should never be just about return on investment. You gotta think about whether it's worth it to deny momentum to your closest rival. Because sometimes the most expensive move can be the One you choose not to make. Of course, Gatorade has good reason to be cautious. When Jordan signed with Gatorade in the early 90s, he was already an established All Star, with six years in the pros and an NBA title under his belt. By contrast, James is not only a rookie, he's never played a single minute of college basketball. Some analysts whisper that James value as a spokesperson might be inflated, fueled in part by the deal he just signed with Nike worth $90 million. With the benefit of hindsight, of course, we know that LeBron James talent was no fluke. He goes on to win four NBA championships for three different teams and becomes one of the defining players of the modern era. When Gatorade let him walk, they missed the chance to sign Jordan's successor. And in doing so, Gatorade inadvertently gives Powerade a new level of legitimacy. Over the next few years, Gatorade and Powerade compete for sponsorships, spokespeople and attention. Powerade holds on to its role as the official sports drink of NASCAR in the NHL. Gatorade, meanwhile, has a firm grip on football, basketball, baseball and soccer, and it maintains its massive size advantage over PowerAid. In 2004, Gatorade controls about 80% of the sports drink market. PowerAid has 15%. But throughout the 2000s, PowerAid keeps chipping away. Between 2000 and 2009, its sales nearly triple. By the end of the aughts, Powerade's market share has climbed 4 points to 19%. While Gatorade sales have slowed, it's still selling more than 550 million cases worldwide to Powerade's 177 million. But the gap is narrowing, and something more troubling is happening for Gatorade. Despite outselling Powerade 3 to 1, and despite outspending Powerade on advertising by as much as 10 to 1, Gatorade and Powerade are starting to be discussed in the same breath. Once upon a time, there was Gatorade and everyone else. But by 2010, there's Gatorade and Powerade. They've become the Pepsi and Coke of the sports drink world, quite literally, since they're owned by Coke and Pepsi. Powerade is perceived as an equality, despite actually being a smaller brand by sales. That's great news for them and a bad sign for Gatorade. Man, this reminds me a lot of other great brand rivalries where the spreadsheet and the street start telling different stories. On paper, Gatorade is still crushing Powerade, outselling it by a wide margin. But in the real world, perception shapes behavior long before accounting catches up. Think of motorcycles. Harley Davidson outlasted its biggest rival, Indian, but within the last 15 years or so, Indians made a big comeback. Now, on paper, there's no real comparison. Harley's a much bigger, more successful company. But in the showroom, the revived Indian's already a rival, fully reborn. Like Gatorade, Harley's bigger for now. But once customers start treating two brands as equals, price sensitivity goes up, loyalty goes down, and margins get squeezed. For any business, being thought of as interchangeable can be more dangerous than actually being outsold. Gatorade needs to add some distance between themselves and their biggest rival. Enter PepsiCo CEO Indra Nui. Nui has been at Pepsi since the mid-90s and has been running the company with a steady hand since 2006. Her diagnosis of Gatorade's problems comes down to one differentiation. Newey says Gatorade's mistake was actually something that used to be its strength marketing itself as a general hydration drink, a quote, social beverage as she puts it, instead of a performance tool for athletes. Remember back in the 80s and 90s, one of Gatorade's most successful marketing decisions was was widening its appeal from serious athletes to the average person. Gatorade wasn't just for NFL linemen or Olympic sprinters. It was for the weekend warriors, kids on blacktop courts, anyone who wanted to be like Mike. At the time, it seemed like a smart play. There are a lot more thirsty people in the world than there are elite athletes. Selling Gatorade as an all around thirst quencher helped the brand exponentially grow its reach and sales. It was a smart strategy when Gatorade owned the category, but now Powerade has entered the conversation and Gatorade needs to reclaim its roots. Under NUI's guidance, Gatorade begins a strategic refocus on products targeted at athletes. They create G2, a lower calorie option that promises to deliver the same electrolytes with less sugar and recover, which includes protein to help repair muscles after tough workouts. Gatorade also comes out with Gatorade Prime, a pouch of concentrated energy gel to sustain endurance athletes, as well as a line of protein bars, shakes and drinks. Notably, they decide not to create a truly sugar free version of Gatorade, which Powerade has already done with their zero calorie version. Powerade Zero Gatorade says that any performance boosting drink for athletes must contain some calories by definition because the energy boost from these calories is part of what you're paying for and there's another decision Nui makes to keep Gatorade distinct from the other guys. She refuses to lower Gatorade's price. Now. Powerade, on average sells for about $2 less per case than Gatorade, which means in the short term, Gatorade, as the more expensive option, experiences a dip in sales. But in an earnings call in 2012, Newey makes it clear that Gatorade will not become a discount rate brand. She tells analysts that slashing prices will hurt Gatorade's perception as a premium sports drink. And she makes it clear Gatorade is for people who are serious about their workouts. Powerade can be for everyone else. Gatorade's renewed focus on being the sports drink for real athletes will carry into the social media era. But as the brand's marketing team will soon learn, basing your reputation on athletic performance has the potential to seriously backfire. It's June 2014 in San Antonio, Texas, game one of the NBA Finals. The Miami Heat are taking on the San Antonio spurs at home, but the real opponent is the Texas Heat. On game day, the air conditioning system inside the AT&T center malfunctions, turning the entire building into a sauna. Sweat streams down the faces of players and fans alike. On the sidelines, players are downing electrolyte drinks like their professional lives depended on it. Thirstiest of all, LeBron James, the heat's power forward and longtime spokesperson for Powerade. Between plays, he gulps from a clear plastic bottle filled with bright yellow liquid. As a Powerade sponsored athlete, James isn't supposed to display his sponsor's logo on the court because Gatorade pays the NBA an estimated $18 million a year to be the league's official sports drink. To navigate this conflict, James usually peels the label off his sports drink bottles. But during this brutal game one of the Finals, LeBron will discover the limits of electrolyte hydration. He's the game's leading scorer heading into the fourth quarter. But in the game's final minutes, disaster strikes. Good crossover by James and on the landing immediately cramps up and James gonna have to be helped over. We've seen him again cramp up before in playoff situations, but it never seemed to be this severe. James limps over to the bench. Without James in the game, The Heat loses 110 to 95 and Gatorade's social media team sees an opportunity to needle its competitor on Twitter, aideraid replies to tweets about LeBron's exit with these the person cramping wasn't our client. Our athletes can take the heat. This is awkward. We don't sponsor him. Fail. We were waiting on the sidelines, but he prefers to drink something else. Gatorade's trolling catches the attention of fans and a few sports news outlets too. So a few Internet sleuths start pouring through ESPN's game footage, focusing on the bottle of bright yellow liquid James was drinking from during game one. Eagle eyed viewers notice that the bottle James is drinking from is smooth with the distinctive orange twist cap. They also notice the distinctive yellow color of his drink, which is only found in one flavor, Gatorade's Lemon Lime. The verdict is in. LeBron was absolutely drinking Gatorade, not Powerade, and Gatorade failed him. This incident ends up being a double ding on Gatorade. First, the brand must apologize for their unsportsmanlike conduct on Twitter. The morning after Crampgate, Gatorade releases a statement. Our apologies for our response to fans tweets during last night's Heat vs Spurs game. We got caught up in the heat of the battle. As a longtime partner of the Miami Heat, we support the entire team. But LeBron's cramping also undermines one of Gatorade's classic claims, that the beverage prevents dehydration in extreme heat. And this raises a dangerous question. If Gatorade was invented to prevent exactly what happened to James, does Gatorade even work? So does Gatorade actually prevent muscle cramps? Sports scientists Ross Tucker and Jonathan Ducas say the idea goes back more than a century, to the mines and factories of the Industrial Revolution. Workers collapsing from heat had their sweat tested. Researchers found salt and assumed its loss caused cramping. That explanation stuck and even carried into the 1930s, when workers building the Hoover Dam claimed that drinking salty milk helped with their cramping. By the time Dr. Robert Cade began studying dehydrated football players at the University of Florida, decades later, electrolytes were already the accepted explanation. But there's a problem with this theory. If electrolyte loss causes cramps, every muscle should fail at once. Instead, it's the muscles working the hardest that fail. Something simple fatigue can explain. Later studies of endurance athletes found that these athletes lose more weight water than salt, meaning that after intense exercise, the body already contains plenty of sodium. What it really needs is plain water. In other words, the science behind electrolyte drinks preventing cramping is complicated. And yet the belief persists. Years of advertising, locker room wisdom, and sideline rituals have locked this idea into our heads long after the science has moved on. Much like the belief that vitamin C prevents colds, Gatorade didn't invent this belief about electrolytes, but they did turn it into one of the most powerful marketing narratives in sports. Let's step out of our lab coats and get back to the business. No matter where you land on the science, it's hard to deny that Gatorade's story and the research behind it is starting to show its age. In 2015, Gatorade celebrates its 50th birthday with a remastered version of their classic Be Like Mike campaign.
- [28:53]
Indira Varma
I dream, I move, I move, I
- [28:55]
David Brown
dream, I groove like Mike if I could be like Mike the campaign presses all the right nostalgia buttons, but the timing isn't perfect. Because just as Gatorade looks back, the market is charging forward. The mid 2010s sees a full blown electrolyte craze. New drinks, powders and performance formulas flood store shelves. Customers have more options than ever and fewer reasons to default to the original. Gatorade can either double down on what makes it different or risk becoming a has been in the very category it once invented. It's 2018 in downtown Las Vegas. Inside the sprawling convention center, a trade show is kicking off for the national association of Convenience Stores. Vendors from all over the country pour into the convention hall and set up their booths, selling everything from vape cartridges to motor oil. But amidst the chaos, one man stands out, a six and a half foot tall NBA champion named Kobe Bryant. Two years ago, Bryant retired from the NBA after a storied career. Earlier this year, he won an Academy Award for an animated film he produced. And now he's here to promote a new contender in the sports drink race called Body Armor. Body armor first hit the market in 2011 but didn't make much of a splash. But everything changed when Bryant came aboard in 2014. Since then, body armor's sales have skyrocketed from about $10 million a year to over 200 million by 2017. In the US alone, that's still a fraction of Gatorade's nearly 6 billion in US sales and Powerade's 1.4 billion. But with only a fraction of the name recognition and legacy, BodyArmor has reached the number three slot. Since Kobe retired from professional basketball and 2020 16, he's prioritized body armor. And as he shakes hands and takes selfies with fans at the convention center, he's not just doing this as a paid spokesperson. Because unlike Michael Jordan with Gatorade or LeBron James with Powerade, Bryant is also an owner. He owns a 10% stake, making him the company's fourth largest investor. Kobe isn't just lending his face here, he's putting his money and reputation on the line. Customers can feel that distinction, even if they can't articulate it with a smaller company. It's like the gap between a spokesperson reading ad copy and a founder who can't stop talking about the product because they helped build it. Ownership changes, incentives and incentives change how convincing the story feels. Kobe's decision to go all in on body armor is especially well timed. By the late 2000 and tens, consumers are hunting for healthier alternatives in the beverage space. Low calorie seltzers like Lacroix and Spindrift are on the rise, along with supposedly healthier sodas like poppy and Olipop, which contain probiotics and fiber. On the non carbonated front, the field is exploding with alternatives to Gatorade from Liquid iv, an electrolyte drink that claims to help the body absorb water faster, to coconut water. Marketed as nature's sports drink for its naturally occurring minerals like potassium, Body Armor isn't exactly health food. It still contains as much sugar as its rivals, but Body Armor does use trendy coconut water as a base. It also avoids artificial colors and has less salt and more potassium than its rivals, all of which help Body Armor claim that it's better for you than the competition. Sadly, Kobe won't survive to see the full scope of body armor's meteoric rise. In 2020, he and his daughter die in a helicopter crash in California. In 2021, Coca Cola buys body armor for $5.6 billion, the company's largest acquisition ever. Kobe's estate is estimated to make hundreds of millions of dollars on the deal. Coke now owns Gatorade's no. 1 and 2 rivals, giving them more market share and twice the ammunition against Pepsi. By 2025, Powerade commands just under 15% of the US sports drink market and body armor nearly 12%. Together. Coca Cola controls a combined 27% of the market, more than its ever commanded before. And the challengers keep on coming. In 2022, Prime Hydration enters the chat. That's the sports drink version of Logan Paul's viral energy drink beverage. Its share is small for now. Gatorade, meanwhile, has fallen to 62%, its lowest market share since it bounded into the public sphere 60 years ago. But before we cue the sad violins for Gatorade, but let's take stock for a moment. A 62% market share may be low by Gatorade standards, but it's still a 2 to 1 advantage over its biggest rivals. And Gatorade isn't standing still. The brand is investing in tech forward ideas like a smart bottle that gives personalized hydration feedback. It's also making wearable patches that connect with your phone app to analyze your sweat and diving into the rain rising category of hydration powders. It's a relatively small category compared to bottled liquid drinks, but it's one of the few hydration areas where Gatorade isn't leading. Gatorade executives say they just need time. They're confident their superior name recognition and scale will win out. And there's one more beneficiary worth remembering, the Gatorade Trust, founded by the drinks inventors way back in 1967. As of 2015, the trust had earned over $1 billion. That's the last year hard numbers are available, so it's safe to say 11 years later, that number is much higher. Now, the University of Florida, which negotiated a 20% cut of all royalties, has received over $280 million from Gatorade. Again, that's as of 11 years ago. This money has funded research at the school across a wide range of disciplines, including granting seed money for promising developmental projects, including whatever might be the next Gatorade. It's been 60 years since freshman footballers first gulped down Dixie cups full of cade's Cola in 2025, Gatorade commemorated the occasion with a nostalgia filled ad campaign featuring the Gatorade bath, Michael Jordan dunking, and Dr. Cade in his lab mixing up a solution. But Gatorade seems to recognize that nostalgia only gets you so far. The commercial celebrating the drink's history wasn't narrated by Michael Jordan or Bill Parcells or even one of the original inventors. Instead, the spot was voiced by a current hip hop legend, Kendrick Lamar. How much are you willing to lose? Take the 65 gift losing steam, losing players Losing sweat. The solution? A drink that hydrates better than water. The commercial also features the faces of young, modern athletes, from WNBA stars Caitlin Clark and Aja Wilson to the 2025 Super bowl champs, the Philadelphia Eagles. No one stays on top forever, but for now, the G is is still king. From Audible Originals this is episode three of Gatorade Sweats the Competition for Business Wars. A quick note about recreations you've been hearing. In most cases, we can't know exactly what was said, though. Scenes are dramatizations, but they are based on research. If you'd like to read more, we recommend first in how Gatorade turned the Science of Sweat into a cultural phenomenon by Darren rovelle and actually LeBron James was drinking Gatorade last night by Barry Pecheski for Deadspin. You can also check out Kobe Bryant Wants to Sell youl a Sports Drink by Ira Budway for Bloomberg, I'm your host David Brown. Katie Clark Gray wrote this story. Our senior producers are Jenny Bloom and Emily Frost. Our producer is Tristan Donovan of Yellowand Karen Lowe is our producer Emeritus. Our Managing producer is Desi Blalock. Fact checking by Gabrielle Joliet. Our lead sound designer is Kyle Randall. Sound design by Josh Morales, Executive producer for Audible Jenny Lauer Beckman, Head of Creative Development at Audible Kate Navin, Head of Audible Originals North America Marshall Louie Chief Content Officer Rachel Giazza Copyright 2026 by Audible Originals, LLC Sound recording Copyright 2026 by Audible Originates, LLC. Follow Business wars on the Audible app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to all episodes of Business wars ad free by joining Audible.