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Last month, a coalition of physicians launched a public pressure campaign against the Big 12’s recent $20 million-per-year patch sponsorship agreement with Monster Energy, which received an international unveiling Aug. 29 when TCU’s football team played North Carolina at the Aer Lingus Classic in Dublin, Ireland. The doctors’ group, Protect Young Fans, warns of the potential health risks posed by highly caffeinated drinks like Monster Energy, particularly to children and adolescents, citing a growing body of scientific research across the medical spectrum. The group has—so far unsuccessfully—called on both the NCAA and Big 12 to end the affiliation, arguing against universities participating in a youth-facing marketing campaign for energy drinks. One of the group’s leaders, cardiologist John Higgins, has led studies examining the effects of energy drinks on the cardiovascular system, including one showing that consumption can impair the ability of the endothelium, the inner lining of the blood vessels, to function normally. Concerns about energy drinks such as Monster have also surfaced in research conducted at Big 12 universities, according to a review by Sportico. That puts the conference’s universities in an awkward—and potentially paradoxical—position of promoting a product that researchers within their academic departments have raised concerns about. Those include: - A 2016 study by Baylor associate professor Andrew Gallucci about the energy consumption habits of college students and college athletes, which warned increased energy drink consumption is strongly correlated with binge drinking. In 2018, Gallucci was part of a subsequent study that challenged the anecdotal association between consuming energy drinks and studying for longer hours in college. - A 2024 medical student-led analysis between Oklahoma State’s Center for Health Sciences and College of Osteopathic Medicine, using data from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, found a strong association between middle schoolers who consume energy drinks and those who sustain concussions. - A 2025 study led by Arizona State clinical psychologist Jack T. Waddell, which found the simultaneous use of alcohol, cannabis and energy drinks was associated with increased drinking quantity and negative alcohol consequences, as compared to alcohol-only days. On the other end of the spectrum is Texas Tech University, where researchers have studied the potential performance benefits of energy drinks. Grant Tinsley, an associate professor of kinesiology and physiology, runs Texas Tech’s Energy Balance & Body Composition lab, which has conducted multiple industry-funded studies evaluating such products. Tinsley separately has operated a consulting firm that advises sports nutrition companies. In a phone interview, Tinsley said he has long consumed sugar-free energy drinks, including Monster’s White Monster beverage, and viewed the Big 12’s jersey patch deal favorably. “My first, knee-jerk reaction was this is kind of cool,” Tinsley said. In 2020, Tinsley and other researchers published a study examining the effects of Bang Energy’s Keto Coffee Energy Drink on metabolism and exercise performance. The randomized, double-blind study, which was funded by the beverage’s then-maker, Vital Pharmaceuticals, found that it had “minimal effects on lower-body muscle performance” but did “significantly increase energy expenditure” immediately after it was ingested. Vital Pharmaceuticals subsequently filed for bankruptcy in 2022. Monster Energy acquired Bang in 2023 for $362 million in a deal that also resolved a lawsuit Monster had filed alleging false advertising and trademark infringement by its former rival. In 2023, Tinsley and colleagues at Texas Tech published another study examining EHP Labs’ ready-to-drink thermogenic beverage, OxyShred Ultra Energy. That study, which was funded by EHP Labs, found no adverse effects to the beverage’s short-term use while reporting it “significantly increased … feelings of energy, focus, concentration and alertness” without producing negative effects on hemodynamic variables. The study’s disclosures stated that EHP Labs was not a current or former client of Tinsley’s consulting firm. Tinsley notes his research is focused primarily on performance implications of energy drinks rather than their potential health risks. That said, he was one of the authors of the International Society of Sports Nutrition’s 2023 position stand on energy drinks and energy shots, which warned adolescents should “exercise caution and seek parental guidance when considering [their] consumption.” Higgins said the Big 12 has yet to respond to the Protect Young Fans’ message. The NCAA’s chief medical officer, Deena Casiero, responded on Aug. 24, writing that while the NCAA does not “have the authority to regulate conference or school sponsorship agreement,” it would circulate the letter to the association’s Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports (CSMAS) and continue to study and educate college athletes about the potential risks of caffeine and energy drinks. Caffeine is currently subject to an NCAA testing threshold under its banned-stimulant rules.