Gatorade isn't a sport beverage. You will never see it in a dedicated sport nutrition shop or alley for instance and it is probably consumed more by sedantary overweight diabetic people than people actually practicing sports. I have been an elite athlete for years and never seen anyone using gatorade in my races.
It was developed for young men doing late summer football practice. It is quite good for that use, or for manual workers doing a combination of cardio and strength work in very hot humid conditions while wearing protective clothing. I've painted houses in these conditions, and it can be hard to drink and keep down enough water; you also lose a lot of salt. Gatorade has salt and sugar in it but at relatively concentrations. You can make your own from scratch, but the bottles are studier and tend to stand up to more abuse
The original "sport" formula was very different and has gone through MANY rounds of revisions since then. Today it's much different than it was even just 20 years ago, when it was already much more palatable than the original formula. It started with a little sugar and a "lot" (moderate) amount of both potassium and sodium. For all practical purposes, today it has zero potassium, and the sodium is also much-much-much lower. The sugar is way higher than it used to be.
Gatorade was once a sports drink, but today it is not a sports drink - it is merely retained its marketing as a sports drink.
It may not be a super high level sport drink, and many players have moved on to other drinks (biosteel seems popular in the NHL), but it's not like nobody uses it for its intended purpose.
I am pretty sure you are mistaking sponsorship and regular use. It is like when you are a RedBull athlete or taking part in a RedBull sponsored/organized event, you have to take a few sip of the product in front of the camera. That doesn't mean you are fueling your efforts with RedBull.
Actually, the Monster / Red Bull used during concerts/sports events/etc are just water in branded cans. It's called "Tour Water" and some of them can be bought by consumers at https://www.monstertourwater.com/en-us/
So just because you see athletes drinking "Gatorade" doesn't mean it's the same Gatorade that's sold in stores. It could be just water, or closer to the low-sugar original Gatorade formula with significant amounts of potassium and sodium added that the retail product lacks.
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