Local Businessman Peter Beveridge of Eyeblack.com Talks About His Big Idea and the Future of the Business

Peter Beveridge always considered himself an “idea guy.” And about ten years ago, he had a big one.
If he could find a way to emblazon team logos onto adhesive eye black—the black patches
athletes wear to reduce the sun’s glare—Beveridge believed he could create a thriving
new business. One business partner and three patents later, he is the CEO of Eyeblack.com,
a Rockville-based company that manufactures the branded adhesive eye black licensed
to Major League Baseball, Minor League Baseball, Major League Lacrosse, Little League
Baseball and Softball, American Youth Football, and more than 120 universities. The
company has also inked deals with professional athletes such as Chicago Bears linebacker

Brian Urlacher and softball star
Jennie Finch. Beveridge’s company sold more than 6.5 million pairs of eye black in 2011, bringing
in revenue of more than $2 million.

Beveridge, a 52-year-old Sidwell Friends high school graduate, spoke to
The Washingtonian earlier this year about the roots of his business and plans for the future.

Have you always been interested in sports?

Yes, I was a pretty decent athlete. We’re Australian—my entire family immigrated to
the United States when I was a kid—so my brothers and I used to swim a lot. I grew
up in Arlington, Virginia, and attended Sidwell Friends high school. I’ve always been
a football and baseball kind of guy. I went to William & Mary college, and I would
have played college football if I hadn’t hurt my knee in high school.

How did you come up with the idea for branded eye black? 

I remember the exact moment. I was watching the St. Louis Cardinals play in 2004,
and I saw that some players had switched from eye black grease to a plain black patch.
I remember thinking, “How valuable would that be if it had a Nike swoosh on it?” So
I tried to get a patent on putting a logo on the plain black patch. Turns out,
Stephen Comiskey—a local lawyer and inventor whose sons went to the Landon School—already had a patent
on that. I worked out a deal with him, and we went into business together. 

How did you build the business?

First of all, I have saint of a wife who allowed me to do this. I didn’t pay myself
anything for more than two years, and I worked out of my mom’s basement. We incorporated
in 2005. We tested our first patches on the football players at University of Miami,
Virginia Tech, and University of Maryland. Each patch had the school’s logo on it.
When we gave the patches to the players, they acted like we’d handed them a hundred
dollar bill. The response was great. Today we have licenses with Major League Baseball,
almost all the college football teams, and Major League Lacrosse. We’ve even signed
some NFL players, like
LaMarr Woodley of the Pittsburgh Steelers and
Marshawn Lynch of the Seattle Seahawks. Once the athletes start wearing them out on the field, the
fans pick up on it. 

How do you grow the business from here? 

We’re trying to make Eyeblack.com a household name. Right now, fans and companies
don’t realize we are the company with the eye-black license for all these college
and professional teams. When our sales people explain that to them, they say, “Oh,
you’re those guys?” We have some deals in the pipeline that will put us in Walmart
and Toys “R” Us. Once we’re there and kids are picking up the patches, that’s when
we know we’ve hit the motherlode. 

How have you been affected by the recession?

It’s certainly hurt us—although not as badly as it’s hurt other businesses. We usually
grow 30 to 40 percent in revenue every year, but last year we only grew 15 percent.

Are there any new markets you are looking to break into?

The possibilities are endless. We’re testing the international market and looking
to cut a deal with the Indian cricket team. We’re looking into soccer. And sports
patches are only part of our business. We’ve made patches for One Love—the foundation
formed to honor murdered University of Virginia lacrosse player
Yeardley Love—and
other social cause groups. We get people who call us and want a personal message inscribed
on their patches—maybe they want to honor their mother who died in a car crash, or
a father struggling with cancer. It’s a humbling business at times.

Do you think the company would ever go public?

At this time, we need a couple of big years before we could think about that. Ideally,
I would sell the company. But honestly, I work with great people who are smart and
motivated; I could do worse things than this for the next ten years.

Luke Mullins

Senior Writer

Luke Mullins is a senior writer at Washingtonian magazine focusing on the people and institutions that control the city’s levers of power. He has written about the Koch Brothers’ attempt to take over The Cato Institute, David Gregory’s ouster as moderator of NBC’s Meet the Press, the collapse of Washington’s Metro system, and the conflict that split apart the founders of Politico.

Zoha Arshad