11.01.08
On a recent night at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, 200 muscular men crammed into a bar to watch a live broadcast of mixed martial arts bouts. Cheers erupted as the fighters on the screen pinned each other to the mat and drew blood.
The party was hosted by Bio-Engineered Supplements & Nutrition, a Boca Raton company that has emerged as one of the leading manufacturers of sports supplements, with $124 million in sales last year. The company makes its profits by selling weight-loss and energy-boosting products with names like Endorush and Astro-Phex at retailers such as GNC and Vitamin World.
This summer, BSN became the official supplement sponsor of Ultimate Fighting Championship, the Las Vegas-based mixed martial arts promoter.
BSN founder and Chief Executive Chris Ferguson said it’s not only his products that distinguish BSN. “What really elevated this business is the art of marketing,” said Ferguson, 34.
By associating his company with UFC—which draws three million male viewers ages 18 to 49 to a fight—Ferguson hopes BSN supplements will become indispensable to a large swath of the coveted young male demographic.
“We want to be the Gatorade of the UFC,” said Ferguson.
BSN paid roughly $10 million for a three-year sponsorship with UFC. For this, BSN gets its logo inside the distinctive octagonal fight ring and joins some illustrious company. Bud Light and Harley Davidson are other prominent UFC sponsors.
BSN expects sales of $200 million this year, a 61 percent year-over-year leap and a long way from 2004 sales of just $9 million.
The company’s trajectory mirrors similarly explosive growth in the larger sports supplements market, which recorded $2.5 billion in sales last year, according to Nutrition Business Journal.
—David Gelles, Miami Herald, 10/6/08
The party was hosted by Bio-Engineered Supplements & Nutrition, a Boca Raton company that has emerged as one of the leading manufacturers of sports supplements, with $124 million in sales last year. The company makes its profits by selling weight-loss and energy-boosting products with names like Endorush and Astro-Phex at retailers such as GNC and Vitamin World.
This summer, BSN became the official supplement sponsor of Ultimate Fighting Championship, the Las Vegas-based mixed martial arts promoter.
BSN founder and Chief Executive Chris Ferguson said it’s not only his products that distinguish BSN. “What really elevated this business is the art of marketing,” said Ferguson, 34.
By associating his company with UFC—which draws three million male viewers ages 18 to 49 to a fight—Ferguson hopes BSN supplements will become indispensable to a large swath of the coveted young male demographic.
“We want to be the Gatorade of the UFC,” said Ferguson.
BSN paid roughly $10 million for a three-year sponsorship with UFC. For this, BSN gets its logo inside the distinctive octagonal fight ring and joins some illustrious company. Bud Light and Harley Davidson are other prominent UFC sponsors.
BSN expects sales of $200 million this year, a 61 percent year-over-year leap and a long way from 2004 sales of just $9 million.
The company’s trajectory mirrors similarly explosive growth in the larger sports supplements market, which recorded $2.5 billion in sales last year, according to Nutrition Business Journal.
—David Gelles, Miami Herald, 10/6/08