'Mr. AZ Sports' attends 150 Arizona sporting events in one calendar year

Nathan Kropp wanted to spice up his life last year.

The 35-year-old insurance claims adjuster is a lifelong Arizona sports fan who grew up in Phoenix.

Last summer, he decided to turn his passion for professional sports in Arizona into his lifestyle and set a personal goal: attend 150 sporting events in a calendar year.

A year later, he accomplished his goal and attended 82 Arizona Diamondbacks games, 43 Phoenix Suns games, eight Arizona Cardinals games, 13 Arizona State football, hockey and basketball games, three days at the Waste Management Phoenix Open and a Phoenix Rising soccer match. One of the ASU basketball games he attended was at McKale Center in Tucson, a 113-100 win for the Arizona Wildcats.

Kropp documented every game on his social media platforms, with the handle “@MrAzSports.”

“It all started, because I wanted to break into the social media world,” Kropp said. “These days, a lot of people break into the social media world by doing crazy challenges. I got tired of just sitting at home. I decided, ‘Well, I go to 80 events a year anyways, so let’s just go to 150 games ... and it’s kind of changed my life. It has put me on the map and it’s been an incredible experience.”

Once his project was underway, “I decided, ‘I need to make this more entertaining than just saying you’re going to every game,’” Kropp said, so he “decided to sneak a rotisserie chicken into a Diamondbacks game.”

Traditionally, sporting events don’t allow outside food or drinks, so Kropp thought about tactics to hide the food.

“I was sitting outside of the stadium, duct-taping it and putting inside my shirt, it’s 110 degrees outside,” he said. “I have two hoodies on and I’m like, ‘This isn’t going to work.’”

Kropp Googled: “Do the D-backs allow outside food in?”

Sure enough, Chase Field doesn’t prohibit fans from bringing outside food, as long as it’s in a clear bag. Fans can also bring non-flavored, non-carbonated water in sealed bottles, sealed juice boxes and empty plastic water bottles.

“I was like, ‘There’s no way,’” Kropp said. “I walked in with a rotisserie chicken and they were like, ‘Yeah, you’re fine.’ I was like, ‘This is going to go viral.’ I just started taking food for every game I went to.”

Kropp brought rotisserie chicken, alligator, duck, meatballs, 40-ounce tomahawk steaks, a Little Caesars pizza and other food items to Chase Field in the last year.

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“People ate it up and it was a lot of fun,” Kropp said. “Those were some of my best videos when I first started.”

Kropp’s content-creating skills focused around food and Arizona sports. Many of the athletes and Phoenix sports figures “have become friends,” Kropp said.

“They’ve become friends because I make videos and they’re like, ‘This stuff is fun,’” he said. “They follow me where to go out to eat.”

Former Arizona Diamondbacks second baseman Junior Spivey, whose son Tre Spivey III is entering his first season as a wide receiver at the UA after transferring from Kansas State, sent Kropp “a text the other day and said, ‘Dude, whenever I want to find a restaurant, I go to your page and your videos and that’s where I go out to eat.’”

“It’s crazy, it’s an unreal experience and it’s so much fun, because a lot of these guys I look up to,” Kropp said. “Now, they’re having conversations and some of them have gone out to dinner with me.”

Kropp has dinner plans in the near future with Arizona Diamondbacks legend Luis Gonzalez, who hit the walk-off hit to win the franchise’s first and only World Series. Kropp has filmed food-related content with several Diamondbacks and Cardinals players.

Kropp’s social media breakthrough has landed him a few dining experiences at “The Ra Ra Room” at PHX Arena, which requires a $15,000 annual membership. One of his friends — “who I consider a booster” for Arizona sports, Kropp said — took him to The Ra Ra Room “probably like five times, which is surreal.”

“The food at Ra Ra Room is some of the best food you’ll ever get,” said Kropp, who ordered the Carbone spicy rigatoni vodka.

Out of the 150 sporting events Kropp attended, the most memorable moment wasn’t luxurious pasta before a Suns game. His top two moments were being on the field when fans rushed it during the chaotic Arizona State-BYU football game in Tempe, and the Diamondbacks rewarding his journey by allowing him to throw out the first pitch before a home game against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Memorial Day.

“That’s going to be something I remember for the rest of my life,” Kropp said. “That was such an incredible experience.”

After breaking his personal record, “my main focus is growing my social media platforms,” Kropp said. Kropp — also known as “Mr. AZ Sports” — can be found on Instagram, X and TikTok.

“I’m trying to get 100,000 (followers) across everything,” Kropp said. “I’m going to still try to go to every game, but maybe not day games with the D-backs because those games are tough. I’m still looking at about 125 games a year. I don’t take as much food to games anymore because I have so many videos that I’m making with athletes these days. My doctor told me I need to eat more salads.

“Over the next five or six years, just get to 1,000 games, get over 100,000 followers, continue to grow and continue to bring positivity to Arizona sports.”