Vick lands another endorsement
Once seen as untouchable, Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick(notes) is making quite a marketing comeback. Fresh off a new deal with Nike, Vick told CNBC on Wednesday that he has a new deal with Double Eagle Holdings, parent company of Fuse Science, which has developed an anti-inflammatory topical gel as well as electrolyte and energy drops that are said to replenish and give a jolt to athletes who take them orally.
The rub, EnerJel, will hit the company's Web site in the coming month, while the drops, marketed as Power Drops and Energy Drops, are promised later in the Fall.
"I thought Fuse was an excellent opportunity as far as what they bring to the table," Vick said.
 |
Alternative delivery systems seem to be a trend in sports nutrition recently. A company called PureBrands launched Sheets, a no calorie, no sugar energy strip that the company says delivers the equivalent of a cup of coffee with each strip that put in the mouth. It is endorsed and partly-owned by Miami Heat star LeBron James.
"If the strip was version 2.0, this is version 3.0," says Fuse Science CEO Adam Adler. "Maybe if LeBron would have used our product in the fourth quarter, he wouldn't have played like Sheet."
Adler says the company has a proprietary formula in its drops that makes it easier to get deeper in the the skin quicker. The electrolytes or the energy can be felt in as soon as 90 seconds, Adler said.
"This instant delivery system will crush guys like Gatorade," Adler boldly proclaimed.
Adler says Vick, as well as 16 other NFL players, will get equity in the company, but that the price to pay is that it excludes them from other categories. Vick can't do any other energy or sports drink deals or even endorse a vitamin since the company is also working on delivering nutraceuticals in the drops it will sell.
Vick, who has racked up endorsements with Unequal Technologies, Core Synergy, Nike and now Fuse Science, signed a five-year deal with the company, but terms were not disclosed.
Click here to read about other top athletes who supplement their incomes with endorsements.
