Someone once told me I was weird for consuming as much milk as I do. I countered that I just like things that go well with milk: cereal, coffee, protein powder. It's not like I sit down at my desk to play XDefiant with a big frothy glass of the white stuff.
That's exactly what Big Milk wants to see, though: The "Gonna Need Milk" campaign by MilkPEP, an organization which represents "the fluid milk industry" in the US, has been claiming that milk is "the performance drink of gamers" for a couple years now.
I've never heard a gamer refer to milk as a "performance drink," so I'm not sure the campaign has been effective just yet, but something quite nice has come out of it: America's milk producers are funding a women's Fortnite tournament called "The Milk Cup" with a $250,000 total prize pool. The final of three qualifying rounds was completed this week, and 33 total teams are now set to compete in a LAN championship event this fall.
"The Milk Cup was specifically designed with the gaming community to address their needs," says the Gonna Need Milk campaign, "and is helping to level the playing field in professional gaming (especially in pay disparity) while celebrating and empowering girls and women gamers."
The series is being produced by Radiant in partnership with the Women of the eRena series, with esports competitor and streamer ThePeachCobbler advising. Its $250K prize pool is "the largest women's esports prize pool in North America" according to the milk companies (I couldn't find a larger one), and the first-place trio at the championship event this fall will win $75,000.
CONGRATS TO OUR TOP 14 TEAMS TODAY! 🙌Our LAN teams are set! All 33 teams have secured their ticket 🎟️ #TheMilkCupTeams grinded so hard for this opportunity! I CAN’T WAIT to hug you all! 🤗 This is already such a milestone in YOUR GAMING CAREER 💕 pic.twitter.com/idoxDUmVVnJuly 26, 2024
This actually isn't the first time a sporting event has been called the "Milk Cup." Two football (as in, soccer) competitions have taken the name, both due to dairy sponsorships—they're now called the SuperCupNI and the EFL Cup. This Fortnite tournament is the only event presently continuing the "Milk Cup" tradition that I know of.
You can find more information on the tournament, as well as various claims about the performance boosting effects of milk, on the Gonna Need Milk website.
