To reach Gen Z, some unexpected food brands back e-sports teams

After scoring a massive goal in a Rocket League tournament, a memorable, if odd, celebratory cry went out across the live stream.

"The power of milk, baby, that's what that is!"

And that's the power of sponsorships.

Eagan-based Version1, an e-sports organization, has partnered with the Midwest Dairy Association and other food brands as more companies tap into the growing influence of professional gaming.

"It's harder to reach a Gen Z audience through traditional media than it might have been just a few years ago, and the e-sports space offers access to that young demographic," said Brett Diamond, chief operating officer of Version1.

Long the domain of energy drinks, snacks and fast food, e-sports have started attracting a wider range of food companies and categories in recent years.

Tyson Foods is sponsoring the Esports Awards this year, and Bush's Beans is backing a college Rocket League tournament hosted by Version1 this fall.

"What was the core gamer audience a few years ago, teenagers, are now adults or young adults starting families or thinking about healthy eating and lifestyle choices," Diamond said. "At the end of the day, you want something that's going to authentically engage with the audience they're trying to reach."

The national Undeniably Dairy logo adorned the jerseys of the Version1 Rocket League team as they posted a top-eight finish at the world championship tournament in Texas this month. Tickets for the arena sold out almost immediately, and streams were watched by hundreds of thousands of people.

"It's a massive market and reach," said Eir Garcia Silva, vice president for dairy experience, youth, at Midwest Dairy. "This is a completely new area for us. Leaning on our partners we're working with, they know the audience, and we've given them the flexibility to do whatever."

Beyond the surprising "power of milk" and other livestream callouts, Version1 has a "Cooking with Comm" series hosted by one of its players and sponsored by Undeniably Dairy.

"We're keeping dairy top of mind and seeing it talked about in relevant ways, making it fun and engaging," Garcia Silva said.

Snack foods still have a healthy appetite for gamers, and Pagoda egg rolls — owned by Minnesota-based Schwan's Co. — is partnering with Version1 after a successful debut in the e-sports world last year.

"We had a #PutTheEggRollsIn campaign with gamers on Twitch," said Megan Elliott, senior marketing manager at Schwan's. "That activation generated 20 million content views and a 500% increase in traffic to our website."

Pagoda is mainly working with Version1's content creators, who make videos outside of live game streams.

"It's such a unique way to spark interest with consumers and get in front of them in a way they're engaged," Elliott said. "It's all so new, so we're really just trying to learn and connect with consumers, see what works, see what doesn't."

Some of the country's largest food and beverage brands — such as Mountain Dew, Coca-Cola, Kellogg's and McDonald's — have established a path other brands are following.

Golden Valley-based General Mills has had its Totino's frozen pizzas and rolls in the e-sports world for years, including jersey and tournament sponsorships and game promotions on its products.

The brand recently unveiled a buffalo chicken flavor in partnership with the L.A.-based e-sports group FaZe Clan.

Version1, owned by the Minnesota Vikings' Wilf family and investor Gary Vaynerchuk, has an 11,000-square-foot headquarters and training facility in Eagan next to the Vikings' TCO Performance Center.

Teams include Minnesota Røkkr in the Call of Duty League, Version1 in Rocket League and Version1 and VersionX in Valorant.

Diamond said that in the next few years the e-sports market, and audience, will mature and more brands will be lining up to reach them.

"It's the perfect platform for streaming services, for how a younger audience is consuming content," he said. "That younger audience, as they get older, have more buying power and clout in the marketplace."