PepsiCo Inc., Purchase, N.Y., and the National Football League (NFL) renewed their long-term partnership with a multi-year agreement to take effect in 2012. As part of the new agreement, several of PepsiCo’s brands, including Gatorade, Pepsi Max, and Tropicana, will be involved in aspects of the football league.
With platforms geared toward athletic enthusiasts, sports drinks experienced a resurgence in sales. The total category increased 14.9 percent to more than $3.9 billion in sales, according to SymphonyIRI Group, Chicago, for the 52 weeks ending May 15 in U.S. supermarkets, drug stores, gas and convenience stores and mass merchandise outlets, excluding Wal-Mart. Non-aseptic bottled sports drinks made up most of the category with more than $3.8 billion in sales and a 14.6 percent increase, SymphonyIRI states.
Rebranding of category leading products as well as no- and low-calorie varieties has helped the sports drink market rebound in dollar sales as well as unit sales.