<P> The University of Florida researchers initially considered naming their product "Gator - Aid". They settled on the name Gatorade, however, since the researchers wanted to create a commercial product, not a scientifically - validated one . Darren Rovell notes his history of Gatorade, First in Thirst, "the doctors realized that they probably shouldn't use the' Aid' suffix, since that would mean that if the drink were ever marketed, they would have to prove that it had a clear medicinal use and perform clinical tests on thousands of people ." Gatorade co-inventor Dana Shires explained, "We were told that you couldn't use that because the Food and Drug Administration prohibited that . That would classify it as something other than a cola or soft drink, so we changed it to ade ." </P> <P> For example, some were skeptical that the product's effect was anything more than a placebo effect . Cade mentioned, "If you told a football player that you were giving him Demerol to relieve pain and you gave him a placebo instead, there's about a 30% chance that the placebo will relieve the pain as much as taking Demerol would have ." </P> <P> Shortly after the 1969 Orange Bowl, Robert Cade entered into an agreement providing Stokely - Van Camp, Inc . (S - VC), a canned - food packaging company, with the U.S. rights to production and sale of Gatorade as a commercial product . In the same year, a licensing arrangement made Gatorade the official sports drink of the National Football League (NFL), representing the first in a history of professional sports sponsorship for the Gatorade brand . A year after its commercial introduction, S - VC tested multiple variations of the original Gatorade recipe, finally settling on more palatable variants in lemon - lime and orange flavors . This reformulation also removed the sweetener cyclamate--which was banned by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1969 - replacing it with additional fructose . In the early 1970s, legal questions arose regarding whether or not the researchers who invented Gatorade were entitled to ownership of its royalties, since they had been working under a research grant from the federal government which provided financial stipends . The University of Florida also claimed partial rights of ownership, which was brought to resolution in 1973 in the form of a settlement awarding the university with a 20 - percent share of Gatorade royalties . As of 2009, the university had received more than $150 million from its share, and was receiving approximately $12 million per year . </P> <P> The Quaker Oats Company purchased S - VC and Gatorade in 1983 for $220 million, following a bidding war with rival Pillsbury . In its first two decades of production, Gatorade was primarily sold and distributed within the United States . Beginning in the 1980s, the company expanded distribution of Gatorade, venturing into Canada in 1984, regions of Asia in 1987, South America and parts of Europe in 1988, and Australia in 1993 . In 1990, Gatorade introduced Gatorade Light, a lower - calorie version sweetened with saccharin . International expansion came at the cost of $20 million in 1996 alone; however the resulting efforts produced worldwide sales of $283 million in more than 45 countries during the same year . In 1997, distribution of Gatorade in an additional 10 countries prompted an 18.7 percent growth in annual sales . </P>

When was gatorade first sold to the public