NFL football goes underground as basement fan caves flourish
No defensive line, nor deadly pandemic can block a football fan’s passion for their team. And I have now seen the fan caves to prove it.
A story featuring the top 10 NFLinspired basement fan caves has captured the intersection of America’s pigskin obsession and home décor. (And maybe also worst color combinations: midnight green and black?) Talk about fantasy football. These underground game rooms are theme rooms on muscle boosters.
“They are a fun place to show off memorabilia, like signed jerseys, ticket stubs, game balls and, of course, to watch games on a big screen,” says Tim Tracy, national sales trainer for Groundworks, a leading foundation solutions company based in Virginia Beach, Virginia, which quarterbacked the initiative to find the best fan caves.
“Our inspectors get to go into a lot of cool basements,” says Tracy, whose company has 40 offices, including in many big football towns. “During COVID, they noticed a big uptick in fan caves as stadiums sat empty, and more sports lovers watched games from their homes. That prompted us to scour the internet to find the best of the best.”
One of them belongs to Broncos fan Devin Hayes, of Westminster, Colorado. A Colorado native, Hayes, 41, who works in sales for a tax resolution firm, has been a Broncos fan since birth, he says. From early on, he watched games with his grandfather, a season ticket holder since 1963.
When he and his wife moved into their home five years ago, he started decking out his fan cave “the minute we got the boxes unpacked.” Today, Broncos navy blue and orange cover every inch of Hayes’ 250-square-foot, subterranean fan cave. He nailed the wall color by having paint mixed at Lowe’s, which has the license for the NFL paint colors.
His brother, who’s in the carpet business, helped Hayes score a piece of the plush orange carpet that the players actually walked on during their Super Bowl 2015 ring ceremony.
“Then, he laid it in the room for me,” Hayes says.
As for what his wife has to say about the basementturned-Bronco shrine, Hayes says, “She says it’s OK because it’s below sight level. Seriously, she’s been very accommodating and even helped me paint.”
The cave’s furniture includes two Broncos chairs, a reclining sofa, a 55-inch, flat-screen, smart TV with surround sound and display cases to show off team memorabilia. His favorites include an autographed Terrell Davis jersey and a signed Karl Mecklenburg Super Bowl football. Pennants and flags hang from the ceiling. He dedicated one wall to the legendary John Elway.
And he’s not done.
Next, he plans to take down a wall and enlarge the space so it can house more of his collection.
“I have a lot of game-day magazines, and more flags and pennants. It’s a work in progress,” he says.
Meanwhile, this time of year, you know where to find him on Sundays.
“You can’t get me out of there until football is over,” he says. “I go in about
10:30 in the morning, after my chores, and don’t come out until 9 at night.”
For others who have a bad case of football fan fever, here’s what Tracy and Hayes say to consider when creating your fan cave:
• The place. Basements ranked first in a Groundworks survey of 1,507 United States men that asked where they would most like to have a fan cave. Garages came in second, followed by spare rooms, outbuildings or sheds and attics.
• Waterproofing. If you’re going underground with your fan cave, be sure to have the space inspected for leaks and moisture levels, says Tracy, whose company specializes in foundation repair and basement waterproofing. A sound moisture barrier and a dehumidifying system together will not only protect your investment, including all that sports swag, but will also ward off that funky damp basement smell. If your fan cave is in a garage, shed or attic, make sure it’s insulated and temperaturecontrolled, so heat and weather don’t damage the memorabilia.
• A giant screen with surround sound. “Because if you want to feel immersed in the game you need both,” Tracy says. Some caves have multiple screens.
• Great seating. You want you and your fellow sports fans to have big cushy bench seating that reclines. (Maybe there is a place in interior design for Barcaloungers after all.)
• A bar. Install a cooler, keg, stocked refrigerator or a built-in bar, so no one has to go upstairs for a beer or a non-alcoholic beverage.
• Memorabilia and atmosphere. One fan cave in Chicago starts playing the Bears’ fight song and starts flashing multicolored with the voice command: “Bear down.” But memorabilia make the cave. These rooms pile on the autographed footballs and jerseys; pennants, programs and posters; ticket stubs, team hats, decals and more. And the best of them do so with style.
Marni Jameson is the author of six home and lifestyle books, including “What to Do With Everything
You Own to Leave the Legacy You Want,” “Downsizing the Family Home - What to Save, What to Let Go,” and “Downsizing the Blended Home - When Two Households Become One.” You may reach her at marnijameson.com.