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PureSport Is Making Waves

When Mark Eshelman, Director of Business Development for PureSport first emailed me about his company, I was wondering what he wanted from a company who did not represent any swimmers.  His company’s product, a protein-focused sports drink had a bunch of swimmers as endorsers, including Michael Phelps.  Mark reached out to me in advance of the 2008 Olympics, so while Phelps was a big name at the time, he was nowhere near the brand name that he is today.  Anyway, Mark sent the product to three of our baseball clients, and they all loved it.  Who knew that swimmers and baseball players both enjoy good tasting, healthy products?  PureSport took a chance with helping out a young company (Dynasty) and some of its Minor League clients.  The least I can do is thank them with a post on the blog.  But additionally, I’d like to congratulate them on a recent write-up in the Wall Street Journal.

PureSport was not only smart enough to snag Phelps as an endorser of its product prior to the 2008 Olympic Games, but additionally gave him and three of his swimming teammates a five-percent share in the company.  Want an athlete to truly care about the product?  Give him a stake in it!  Sports Authority now carries PureSport products, and a big reason for that is the exposure that the sports drink company gets by being aligned with Phelps.  Smart move by a smaller, new company looking to make a name for itself.  So which company is going to be the first to jump on an opportunity to have its large logo right in the middle of a guy like Norm Duke or Robert Smith as they bowl in championship after championship on ESPN?

By Darren Heitner

Darren Heitner created Sports Agent Blog as a New Year's Resolution on December 31, 2005. Originally titled, "I Want To Be A Sports Agent," the website was founded with the intention of causing Heitner to learn more about the profession that he wanted to join, meet reputable individuals in the space and force himself to stay on top of the latest news and trends.

Heitner now runs Heitner Legal, P.L.L.C., which is a law firm with many practice areas, including sports law and contract law. Heitner has represented numerous athletes and sports agents as legal counsel. He has also served as an Adjunct Professor at Indiana University Bloomington from 2011-2014, where he created and taught a course titled, Sport Agency Management, which included subjects ranging from NCAA regulations to athlete agent certification and the rules governing the profession. Heitner serves as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Florida Levin College of Law, where he teaches a Sports Law class that includes case law surrounding athlete agents and the NCAA rules.

5 replies on “PureSport Is Making Waves”

Does he give free samples to the clients or as an agent do you need to pay for the drinks for your clients? Seems quite expensive….

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