BodyArmor Founder Talks Pursuit of the Mets and Taking on Gatorade

(Bloomberg) -- From baseball to beverages, Mike Repole has a lot on his plate these days.

The co-founder of Vitaminwater, which he sold to Coca-Cola Co. for more than $4 billion in 2007, is setting his sights on overtaking stalwart Gatorade with his new sports drink, BodyArmor. He has also joined Alex Rodriguez, Jennifer Lopez and Vinnie Viola to form a group that's in hot pursuit of buying the New York Mets.

Repole, 51, discussed his business and sports ventures on Bloomberg's Business of Sports Podcast.

“You know, we're very much in the thick of it,” Repole said about his group's bid for the Mets. “Working with Alex and Jennifer has been such a pleasure. Vinnie Viola and his son, Michael, you know, us four are part of the ownership group that is interested, it's been an incredible process the last four, five, six months. We're in the race.”

He said having Lopez and Rodriguez as part of their group may give them a leg up.

“Jennifer, as a woman owner, she is bigger than the sport, she's iconic, she's amazing,” said Repole. He added he didn't expect Rodriguez's checkered past in baseball -- he was suspended for the 2014 season due to his use of performance-enhancing drugs -- would be an obstacle to being approved as an owner.

Repole is competing with hedge-fund billionaire Steve Cohen to buy the team.

On the beverage front, Repole said BodyArmor, which is partnered with Coca-Cola, could unseat PepsiCo Inc.'s Gatorade as the dominant sports drink by 2025. He said the product is on track to surpass $1 billion in revenue in 2020.

To achieve that goal, the brand has teamed up with athletes like baseball superstar Mike Trout, U.S. women's World Cup champion Megan Rapinoe and NBA Most Valuable Player James Harden. The company on Wednesday announced that it added seven new athletes as partners including the NFL's Christian McCaffrey and the WNBA's rookie sensation Sabrina Ionescu.

“I think it's just a matter of time, whether it's 2024, 2025 or ‘26, before BodyArmor is that No. 1 sports drink,” Repole said.

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