MiLB’s Newest Team, The Malmö Oat Milkers, to Play in Northwest Arkansas
Springdale, ARK | August 6, 2024 – This August 13, The Malmö Oat Milkers are coming to Northwest Arkansas, but they’ll have some familiar faces. Your hometown Northwest Arkansas Naturals will play as the Oat Milkers, Minor League Baseball™ (MiLB™)’s newest team brought to the league by Oatly, the world’s
Springdale, ARK | August 6, 2024 – This August 13, The Malmö Oat Milkers are coming to Northwest Arkansas, but they’ll have some familiar faces. Your hometown Northwest Arkansas Naturals will play as the Oat Milkers, Minor League Baseball™ (MiLB™)’s newest team brought to the league by Oatly, the world’s original and largest oatmilk company.
Questions such as “the Malmö whats?” “how do I even pronounce that?” and/or “what is oatmilk?” as well as statements including “I don’t get it, and I just want to watch some Naturals baseball” are appropriate and, frankly, not shocking. Luckily, the Oatly public relations department shared some answers with us, which admittedly could bring either more clarity or more confusion to this situation.
Announced during MLB Tonight’s March 27 evening broadcast, the introduction of The Malmö Oat Milkers to the league is part of Oatly’s ongoing multi-year partnership with MiLB as the first-ever national plant-based, non-dairy sponsor, and pays homage to Oatly’s home city of Malmö, Sweden.
All of MiLB’s already existing 120 teams are each playing one game this season as the Oat Milkers, including the Northwest Arkansas Naturals on Tuesday, August 13 – making the Oat Milkers more than just the 121st team of MiLB, but also an occasion for our local players to wear non-generic, but also non-outlandish pink accented jerseys for nine entire innings. Fans are under no obligation to wear Oat Milkers’ gear, but we’re told Oatly – the corporate sponsors – would love that.
Naturals fans can expect an unforgettable Oat Milker game experience, including a new first-pitch ritual, trivia, a chance to “sign a contract to be an Oat Milker for a day,” and more.
While now primarily known for “assuming the identity of a MiLB team,” Oatly also makes a delicious range of oat-based, non-dairy milk alternatives that offer the same creamy taste, frothy feel, and functionality as cow’s milk, while generally having a lower environmental impact1. This includes frozen dessert concessions available for purchase at Arvest Ballpark.
Gates for the Tuesday, August 13 Oat Milkers game open at 6:00 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at nwanaturals.com. For more information on The Malmö Oat Milkers inaugural season and the team’s full schedule, please visit milb.com/oatmilkers. To learn more about Oatly, visit oatly.com
About Northwest Arkansas Naturals
The Naturals are the Double-A Affiliate of the Kansas City Royals and play at Arvest Ballpark in Springdale, Arkansas. For more information, including tickets, groups, stats, and more, visit NWANaturals.com, and follow us @NWANaturals (X/Instagram) and Facebook.com/Naturals.
About Oatly
We are the world’s original and largest oat drink company. For over 30 years, we have exclusively focused on developing expertise around oats: a global power crop with inherent properties suited for sustainability and human health. Our commitment to oats has resulted in core technical advancements that enabled us to unlock the breadth of the dairy portfolio, including alternatives to milks, ice cream, yogurt, cooking creams, spreads and on-the-go drinks. Headquartered in Malmö, Sweden, the Oatly brand is available in more than 20 countries globally.
- Poore, J., & Nemecek, T. (2018). Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers. Science, 360(6392), 987-992.