NFL devotees go underground as elaborate fan caves flourish
No defensive line or deadly pandemic can block a football fan’s passion for his 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 the worst color combinations: midnight green and black?) Talk about fantasy football.
“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,” said Tim Tracy, national sales trainer for Groundworks, a Virginiabased foundation solutions company, which quarterbacked the initiative to find the best fan caves.
“Our inspectors get to go into a lot of cool basements,” said Tracy, whose company has 40 offices, including many in 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. Hayes, 41, who works for a tax resolution firm, has been a Broncos fan since birth, he said. 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’s 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 walked on during their Super Bowl 2015 ring ceremony.
“Then he laid it in the room for me,” Hayes said.
As for his wife’s opinion on the basement-turnedBronco shrine, “she says it’s OK because it’s below sight level,” Hayes said. “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 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 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 gameday magazines and more flags and pennants. It’s a work in progress,” he said.
Meanwhile, you know where to find him on Sundays.
“You can’t get me out of there until football is over,” he said. “I go in about 10:30 in the morning after my chores and don’t come out until 9 at night.”
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 U.S. 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, said 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 temperature controlled, 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 said.
Some caves have multiple screens.
GREAT SEATING >> You want you and your fellow sports fans to have big cushy bench seating that reclines.
ABAR>> Install a cooler, a keg, a stocked refrigerator or a built-in bar.