Gatorade is the Goliath of sports drinks.
It controls 80 percent of the sports drink market.
Robert Robergs, director of the UNM exercise physiology lab, created Hydrade, a sports drink he said he would like to see go head to head with Gatorade.
"The sports world is hard, because Gatorade has a contract with everybody," Robergs said.
UNM has a $1 million contract with Pepsi, which owns Gatorade. Pepsi provides all UNM athletes with Gatorade at practices and games.
Robergs said it's not fair that he can't market the drinks to UNM athletes because of the contract.
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Bruce Cherrin, director of purchasing, said athletes are free to drink whatever sports drink they wish, but the University cannot compete with Pepsi by selling other sports drinks.
"We wouldn't make it the official drink of the Lobo men's basketball team, but they could all drink it if they wanted," Cherrin said.
Robergs could have UNM athletes try Hydrade, but he could not sell it.
Robergs said it's hard to get the word around because of Gatorade's control of the sports drink market.
"What's meant to be a free market is locked in an arrangement with the University," he said.
Jada Lucey Martinez, executive director of the Lobo Club, said the contract is fair.
"Pepsi bought the right, and if Gatorade is a part of that, yeah, it's fair."
The University is in the third year of an eight-year contract with Pepsi.
Dupuy Bateman, vice president of Auxiliary Enterprises, said the University reserves the right to save 15 percent of shelf space at its convenience stores for selling competitors' products.
Hydrade is not on the shelves at UNM.
The sports drink has been on the market since 2000. Nineteen stores in New Mexico carry the drink. Robergs said the drink is doing well in Texas and New Mexico.
Robergs has done research on glycerol and its effects on hydration. He said he was approached by the Hydrade company in 1998 to be its scientific consultant.
Hydrade contains 4 percent glycerol, which increases the body's ability to absorb water, Robergs said.
Student Nick Matlack said he's never heard of Hydrade, and thought it was ridiculous that a brand of sports drink could be regulated by a contract.
Matlack said he drinks Gatorade every day and considers himself an athlete.
Gatorade will add 240 calories to the body if people do not work out longer than 45 minutes, Robergs said. People should not consume sports drinks at all if they do not plan at least a 45-minute workout, he said.
