Opinion: Energy drinks’ new college sports partnerships make them more dangerous than ever
The excerpt traces energy drinks from an upscale NoDoz-like product to a sugared, high-caffeine staple, now blended with wellness ingredients such as ginseng, vitamins, and amino acids to look like sports drinks, creating an $85 billion-a-year and growing global market. It notes caffeine in coffee, tea, or Coca-Cola has long been a staple of American life, but argues energy drinks are not safe, especially for teens and pre-teens, because too much caffeine—and perhaps the added sporty ingredients—can push the young heart or mind into overdrive, leading to acute illness and even death.
More than a decade ago, the evidence was strong enough that the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and even Congress advised extreme restraint. Producers then agreed not to advertise to children under 12, but they declined to protect 13-to-18-year-olds, anticipating the debate would fade; politicians moved on, while the industry’s financial clout grew, creating a new and more dangerous problem.
Faced with promises of big cash payouts, universities have entered the fray on the wrong side. The first mega-splash came over the summer: Monster Energy’s $20 million-a-year agreement with college sports’ Big 12 Conference, which includes the caffeine-avoidant Brigham Young University. The deal makes Monster the Big 12’s "official entitlement partner" and specifically includes placement of a Monster patch on every game jersey. Celsius then partnered with ESPN to sponsor College GameDay, the hub of the let’s-have-fun-and-watch-TV-sports-all-day movement.
The piece argues these sponsorships reach uber-impressionable boys who dream of becoming bros in college football. John Higgins, professor of cardiology at UTHealth in Houston and an expert on the risk the drinks pose to the young, told the author, "An energy-drink logo on a Big 12 jersey tells [a] child: this is part of sports, performance and success." Celsius made the same point in market terms, saying "College is where the next generation of fans and consumers are shaping culture" and calling its ESPN collaboration "a natural evolution of that commitment" in a press release—prompting the author’s sarcastic "fans and consumers together as one, indivisible! Forever!" The excerpt adds that some universities receiving the dough are also doing research that demonstra...