Food and sports are a match made in heaven. Food Renegades and Chefs: Darryl Postelnick (3.3 million total followers), Matt Groark (3.6 million total followers), Trazia Rae (2.4 million total followers), and Chef Darian Brian (85,000 total followers) have also become focal points when it comes to sports and cooking.
Darryl Postelnick aka Cooking With Darryl, is a huge influence in the golf space as well as in all Chicago sports. He consistently creates content around the big golf tournaments such as the Masters, which took place this past week, and his videos amassed over 1 million views and hundreds of comments obsessing over his perfect dip to bring to your Masters par-tee, his Masters Sunday seafood, and his Master Party queso birria tacos! Last year Darryl also went hyper-viral for making the signature cocktail the “John Daly,” which was featured on many sports outlets covering the debate between it being named the John Daly or the Arnold Palmer. His audience remained extremely engaged in the discussions and followed along contributing to the increased success of the content he produced.
In addition to creating content centered around the PGA’s largest tournaments, Darryl attended the most recent Waste Management Open, creating content with his longtime sponsor Rhoback. Aside from golf, Darryl has also done on-site activations with the Chicago Bears, Chicago Cubs, Chicago Blackhawks and Arizona State University which have been incredibly successful as well.
Matt Groark aka The Meat teacher is a die hard Eagles and Phillies fan, and knows how to tailgate better than anyone. He attended this year’s Super Bowl with Recteq and Virgin Hotels and participated in Recteq’s Tailgate Showdown where he went head to head with another culinary influencer to see who has the best tailgate bites in the nation! Aside from attending huge events like this one, Matt also attends many other games throughout the football and baseball seasons and has even created his own tailgate series. He also partnered with Draftkings the #1 online casino in America to promote their new deal for new customers that is juicier than his steaks. Grilling may be his passion, but sports are not far behind.
Trazia Rae may be an icon in the food space, but she is not stopping at the kitchen. Nothing sounds better to her than taking her expertise to the race tracks and creating content trackside! Trazia’s husband Josh is an Xfinity Nascar driver, and she often travels by RV to attend his races. Don’t think for a second though that she is leaving her talents at home. Trazia has partnered with Napoleon Grills to showcase how she uses their portable gas grill and how convenient it is to whip up burgers and brats while traveling and always being on the go. These races may be about Josh, but she has definitely crept her way into the spotlight. She also teamed up with Azuna to take his stinky car to the next level and get rid of all bad smells with Azuna’s auto odor eliminator. Now his car always smells fresh, there’s always food onsight, and everyone is always happy.
Chef Darian Brian went from zero to hero in the blink of an eye. Sports are his specialty, and while he is a big time chef to individual NFL players, he is also the go-to chef to the Buffalo Bills. His creations are limitless and taste even better than they look. There is no question as to why people of such high calibers are begging for his food. Von Miller, linebacker for the Buffalo Bills raves about Darian’s caribbean food on his podcast, and Jordan Poyer recently shouted out his new Jamaican restaurant in a press conference, talking about how excited he is to head over there with his team. The comments and engagement on this post are remarkable from people who have already been to the restaurant, in addition to others who are talking about “flying down to try it.” Darian’s accomplishments and relationships are more than impressive. He made his own post with Bills players Stefon Diggs, and Von Miller wishing them luck in their game and exclaiming that he does not see them as clients, but rather as family.
The impact these food Renegades have made on the sports industry is remarkable, however it is not shocking. Their talents are unlike any other, and the partnerships, and communities they have created for themselves have only continued to grow. There is no limit when it comes to events they will attend, deals they will partake in, and bonds they will make.
