How Dairy MAX and Hudl Are Fueling the Student-Athlete Journey
Dairy MAX is breaking the traditional ad pattern on Hudl to fuel Gen Z athletes with nutrition education during the high-stakes moments that matter most.
High school sports are the heartbeat of local communities. For brands, these moments offer a rare, contextually relevant environment where student-athletes, coaches, and parents are deeply invested in content that carries high emotional stakes.
Dairy MAX, a nonprofit dairy council representing over 700 dairy farm families, recognized that this wasn't just a space to advertise; it was a powerful opportunity to educate young athletes on how dairy fuels performance, recovery and everyday wellness.
By renewing their partnership through 2026, Dairy MAX is leveraging a proprietary attention channel to expand their Built w/ Chocolate Milk platform, meeting athletes exactly where they are: at the point of performance. This multi-touch opportunity allows brands to reach both the athlete and the parent with relevant messaging in a single environment, driving significantly higher brand recall and recognition.
Hudl sits at the center of the youth sports experience for athletes and their families, making it a powerful channel for Dairy MAX. Through this partnership, we can reach youth athletes and their parents in a space they already trust and engage with daily, ensuring that dairy’s role in their performance and recovery is part of the conversation.
The Challenge: Reaching Gen Z Athletes Where They’re Most Engaged
Reaching Gen Z requires more than just showing up; it requires being embedded in their daily routine. Dairy MAX’s mission was to drive meaningful awareness of dairy nutrition by prioritizing the Gen Z athlete audience for incremental media investment. Because traditional digital media often struggles to build the trust needed to influence personal health decisions, Dairy MAX turned to Hudl, which lives at the center of the student-athlete's world. They wanted to reach the entire ecosystem—athletes, coaches, and families—within a brand-safe environment that feels like a natural part of the game.
Credibility at Scale: Authentic Storytelling in the Athlete Workflow
Hudl serves as the bridge between massive national reach and deep local impact. With 90% penetration across U.S. high schools and a community of 5M+ athletes, we offer a window into the most authentic moments in sports.
For Dairy MAX, Hudl delivered value in three critical ways:
- Scalable Localism: Dairy MAX connects with student-athletes in their hometowns with regional precision, ensuring their message lands where their dairy farm families live and work.
- Performance-First Credibility: Nutrition education is most impactful when it’s part of the athlete’s workflow. By appearing alongside Hudl’s tools used for improvement, Dairy MAX becomes a trusted resource for athletes.
Seamless Storytelling: Rather than interrupting the game, Dairy MAX is woven into it. From livestreams to highlights, the brand is a native part of the fan and athlete experience.
More Than a Placement: A Performance Platform
Dairy MAX activated across Hudl’s ecosystem of 100M+ fans to turn sports moments into educational opportunities. By utilizing high-impact native video and livestream integrations, they’ve ensured that the Built w/ Chocolate Milk message is present when attention is highest—after a big win or during a post-game highlight review. This strategy has driven deep engagement among the decision-makers who matter most: student-athletes striving to improve, coaches who act as key influencers, and parents who control household purchasing power.
Driving Awareness and Upper-Funnel Impact
The campaign proved that when brand stories land in a high-stakes environment, they not only generate impressions and trust—they generate results. By prioritizing awareness, branding, viewability, CTR and video completion rates (VCR), Dairy MAX achieved strong engagement across Gen Z athletes and coaches. Our top campaign performance highlights include:
Extending Engagement Beyond the Season
The connection doesn't end when the season does. Dairy MAX is leveraging Hudl’s platform to promote a nutrition-focused webinar in January 2026, providing coaches and parents with deeper education on recovery. This extension demonstrates how Hudl supports not just awareness, but sustained education and community engagement beyond game day.
A Trusted Connection to Local Communities
By renewing its partnership with Hudl, Dairy MAX reinforced its commitment to meeting athletes where they are. As recently highlighted in Youth Sports Business Report, renewing this multi-year partnership allows Dairy MAX to maintain a consistent presence in the lives of student-athletes through 2026 and beyond.
Hudl’s AI-powered video ecosystem ensures high-emotion moments are captured and shared, allowing Dairy MAX to scale its message across the audiences who care most. This partnership demonstrates how performance-driven media can be seamlessly integrated into the daily rhythm of an athlete's life.
Looking Ahead
As Dairy MAX continues its Built w/ Chocolate Milk campaign, Hudl will continue to fuel year-round engagement—turning everyday sports moments into opportunities for education, connection, and lasting impact.
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