Sports Man Cave
Where Game Day Meets Home Play!
The sports man cave is the ultimate sanctuary to satisfy the inner cravings of the sports fanatic. A place where every game is a home game. A place where every shout echoes the roar of the crowd. A place where you can taste the splendors of victory or extinguish the agonizing flames of defeat. A Fortress of Solitude for the everyday man. We wanted to break down the sports man cave into different sections. You can see them below here. Feel free to browse the whole page or use these to jump to whatever section you’d like!
Memorabilia & Displays
One of the biggest draws to having a Sports Man Cave is that you get to flaunt your teams and players openly! This is where guys like to show off a little bit. It’s a grown man’s show and tell. The key is knowing where to get your sports memorabilia from. I have been hosed a few times myself. Now I only go through SportsMemorabilia.com. They have so many options to choose from that the only drawback is having to decide on your latest addition to the cave!
Memorabilia By...
Don't Forget The Display!
One of the things that people run into when building out their sports memorabilia collection is how you are actually going to display the goods! This is something that slipped my mind when I decided to go all in and buy one something from each of my favorite teams when I started out. I forgot the all important display factor! Sure, a lot of times an autographed picture may come in a frame. But believe me, prized possession is my signed Antoine Winfield picture of him giving Tyreek Hill the peace sign in the Super Bowl, but it would not look nearly as beautiful if it wasn’t in a custom Tampa Bay Buccaneers frame. (Image below for reference). The point is…pay attention to how you are displaying your sports memorabilia too! Again, SportsMemorabilia.com is my go-to.
Some of My Written Works on Sports Memorabilia & Displays...
Seating & Furniture
There are very few things important to a man as to where he parks his arse whilst watching the game. I think I heard that somewhere. Maybe not. But it’s still true! You can have everything a sports man cave should have…envy-worthy memorabilia, jaw-dropping TV displays, even a man cave bar. But if you don’t get the seating right, I’m afraid it’s all for naught. I actually have a few favorite places that I like to peruse for a spot to park my tuckus. I will share a few options I have found. As well as some stuff that looks pretty cool from Amazon. Some of the options are a little more pricey. But when it comes to my arse…I spare no expense! Nor should you!
Raymour & Flanigan & Sports Man Cave Furniture?
Some of My Man Cave Furniture Writings...
Entertainment Setup
This should probably go without saying but I’ll go ahead and mention it anyway…very few things are as important to a sports man cave than actually watching sports in the man cave. In order to do that the right way, you need the proper equipment. It does you no good to have the best memorabilia imaginable, the comfiest arse hugging seating available, and a fully stocked bar with only the finest beverages from all the land…if you don’t have the right TVs and entertainment setup. This was an important one for me and it will likely be a battle with whomever you need to convince that size does, in fact, matter a lot (we’re talking about TVs you pervert!). It was always a dream of mine to have dual TVs in my man cave. One for sports and one for sports/video games. You can see an image of my setup below. But it is the single best decision I made about my man cave and one I highly recommend! So without further adieu, let’s get into some options for your sports man cave entertainment setup!
Where Do You Even Get TVs Anymore?
I don’t think I’m that old. But I seem to remember the good ‘ole days when there were choices of physical stores where you could go and look at a wall of TVs and compare which one has the picture you’re looking for in your sports man cave. Now I’m lucky if Best Buy is open past dinnertime or even has a decent selection to look at. Nowadays everything is done online. It’s kind of sad to be honest. But this is not about that. I do plan on posting updates on the best man cave TVs. Any of the posts will be in this section for safekeeping. But I will also link to the Amazon categories that I use when I’m looking for a new TV. Yea, I’m a size queen!
Some of My Aforementioned Man Cave TV Writings...
Don't Forget The Sound!
One aspect of my own personal sports themed man cave that I neglected for far too long was the sound. Specifically the surround sound. I am not sure, but one of my TVs sounded louder than the other. So I made that one my main TV that I had my sports on and the other one was relegated to my video games or the “other game that’s on”. I was stubborn. And I was wrong. Luckily I woke up and realized how much of a moron I was being. You can’t have a sick setup with crappy sound. There’s nothing worse than having the boys over, getting some darts or old school NBA Jam tournament on the arcade machine, and not being able to hear the TV over the hooplah of the fellas. That’s why I had to come to my senses and get a good surround sound system for my man cave.
My Current Man Cave TV Setup
Sports Bar Elements
The man cave bar is the ultimate pinnacle of man cavery. The bar is when you know you have reachd the big leagues and you’re no longer a man cave prospect. The elements to a bar in your man cave are pretty basic. you need a decent bar, comfortable seating, good booze, and entertainment. If you nail those three things, you will have a watering hole that your boys will never want to leave. But how do you achieve them? Let’s break it down.
The Man Cave Bar
There are a few options when it comes to a man cave bar. You can buy one online, you can buy one if you can find it at a local store, or you can build one. I don’t know about you, but I’m more Tim “the Toolman” Taylor than Bob Villa, so I will not be building a bar at this time. Maybe someday I will learn the difference between a hammer and a nail. But for now, I purchase. But where? Where can you find decent bars for your man cave? You can definitely get them from Amazon or certain furniture stores. But what I have found is that you can get almost anything you want from some sellers on Etsy. Here are some of the ones that stood out to me…
A Few Of My Man Cave Bar Writings...
Themed Decor
I know that we have talked about our sports memorabilia previously, but the sports man cave does not just stop at memorabilia. Yes, that is one element, but it has to extend beyond autographs and jerseys. You have to show your colors every damn place you can! That’s why I wanted to cover a little more of that in this section. Now I may go overboard with paper plates and plastic cups and make my buddies use them, but somehow I feel that if you’re still reading to this point, you may have the same ball-busting tendencies as me. This section is for you, my friends! Depending on your needs, my go-to for fan gear is Fanatics. They have pretty much everything from all the team shops and I have been able to trust them on a ton of my personal sports themed decor.
Sports Team Paint
I was planning on dropping a whole bunch of paint and color knowledge bombs in this section. I was going to talk about PANTONE colors, and different hex codes, and what codes you want to use for paint. But the fact is that I almost fell asleep 7 times while doing the research on this. And I found the best resource and even tested it out on my teams. So if you’re looking for the right colors to match your teams, check this site out: TeamColorCodes.com.
Sports Rug - Your Magic Carpet Ride
There’s not a lot that tells people how much of a fan you are of your team more than a sports themed carpet. If you’re a little bit off (like this guy) you might have a different wall for each of your teams in their respective sport. Then you can also get some area rugs to match that particular wall and really lay it on thick. I got my rugs at Fanatics. They have a pretty solid selection. There actually used to be a site that specialized in apors themed rugs but they are not offering any products at this time. If that changes I will edit this post and let you know.
My Finest Sports Cave Themed Decor Writings...
Activity Zones
This is the part of the sports man cave that I have been most excited to talk about. Don’t get me wrong. I LOVE my sports. And I am an absolute lunatic fan for my teams. But I also like games. And fun. And at the end of the day…my man cave is a reflection of the simple fact that I never grew up and according to my wife…I never will. So the ‘Activity Zones’ section is dedicated to that part of the man cave. It’s the part that brings out the kid in you or maybe that friendly competitor that everyone loves! Whether it’s an arcade machine, pinball, pool table, foosball, dartboard, shuffleboard, or something else…you simply can’t go wrong with having some of these items in your man cave.
My Man Cave Arcade Machine
Now there are several places that you can get arcade machines. I spent a ton of time researching them. Actually had a horrible experience with one (who ironically doesn’t seem to be in business anymore) and an absolute amazing experience with another. The guys I went to are TheArcadeGuys.com (that is not an affiliate link…I just really think they are the best). Listen, I love my video games. I’m never going to stop loving my video games. But the more I get my behind completely embarrassed by a snickering little 10 year old on the latest Call of Duty, the more I realize that I need games that are a little more my speed. That’s why I love the arcade games. My machine has 17,000 games on it. And I don’t say that to brag. Most of them I will never touch. But it does have a crapload of games from Nintendo, Super Nintendo, N64, Playstation, etc. So essentially, my childhood in a cabinet. The cool thing about where I got my cabinet is that they let me combine wraps (the decoration). So my cabinet has the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on the front and the NY Yankees on the sides. They have a ton of wraps to choose from. A ton of different sports teams and other themes. Their delivery was amazing. And their customer service after the fact was unbelievable. I love my machine and have had it for 2 years now. I really can’t say enough about these guys.
The Allure of The Man Cave Dart Board
So the other “game” I have in my man cave is my dart board. And believe me, it gets a lot of use! I remember hearing from a certain someone in my life (I’m sure you all have these someones in your life as well) telling me that if I get a dart board it will never get any use. Well I am glad I paid that absolutely no attention and got myself a dart board anyway! One of my best “ignores” of all time I might add. But I was really nervous when it came down to which one to get. I obviously wanted to go with the Spyder (the one at the bars). They actually sell them. But I didn’t have those kind of ends at that time. My buddy who I grew up with convinced me to get a Gran Board. You can actually play people online so we can play each other from the comfort of our own homes (or man caves). I also have a custom built cabinet with a touch screen for my Gran board. But you can use your phone or a tablet and get the app. It keeps score just like the ones at the bars and it’s not nearly as expensive.
Is a Pool Table Worth It?
The fact is that whenever anyone thinks of a man cave in their head, it inevitably involves a pool table somehow. So I absolutely had to include it in here. I have covered pool tables on the site before (and I will include pool table & game room writings in this section) but when you think of a pool table in a sports man cave, you think of team colors, or even team logos on the actual pool table. And another that has a plethora of goodies for a man cave. I will actually write about them below this. But they have MLB, NHL, and NCAA teams and their tables look AMAZING! For the NFL pool tables, you can choose from 3 different wood finishes. And it comes with team pool balls, which is a nice touch!
Holland Bar Stool Co.
As of this writing I am not affiliated with this company. I am hoping that changes in the future and we can do something. And if that changes I will update this here. But I have never seen such cool looking sports themed gaming tables than I did when I saw these guys. They offer college, NHL, and MLB tables and all sort of game room goodies. I was actually stuck on the site for hours when researching. you can go in and choose your team and they will show you everything they make themed to that team. you have to check them out if you are serious about upping your sports man cave game! They are at HollandBarStool.com. Just take a gander at some of these Florida State options! Not only do they have pool tables and shuffleboard tables, but bar stools, pub tables, all kinds of covers! This site is sick!
Other Gaming Varieties
So we have covered the arcade machine, the dart board, and the pool table for the sports man cave. And we dipped our toe into the other realm of games and goodies with showing the shuffleboard table. But there are a plethora of other fun additions to make your sports man cave truly unique. Air hockey tables, bubble hockey, foosball, shuffleboard, even ski-ball! The possibilities are really endless when it comes to your sanctuary. It’s really all up to you on what you feel will add to your spot and what you think will get used. I have to be honest, when I started out my cave, I thought the arcade machine was going to get so much more use than the dartboard, but it’s been pretty even steven. so my suggestion is to find the things that you like doing and that you could do that don’t require an opponent. This way, when you’re in your cave watching your team, you can scoot up during commercial break and get a quick game or a few shots in. But make it something YOU like!
Some Fabulous Activity Zone Man Cave Writings...
Lighting
Let’s face it…lighting is not the sexiest thing to talk about when it comes to your ultimate sports man cave. But, believe it or not, lighting can definitely make or break the ambiance of the room. I personally have a dropped ceiling in my basement man cave. There is nothing worse than when you have random lights go out. So I definitely started paying attention to my lighting down in my lair. And you should too! But not only just the quality of the bulbs that you go with. But if you want to really up your sports lunacy, go for some sports themed lighting or some custom neon signs!
Some of the Most Riveting Posts About Lighting Ever...
Overtime...
So that’s all I have for now when it comes to the Sports Man Cave. I’m sure I will be adding or deleting as I go. And there will be more posts accruing in each category as I go as well. So make sure you bookmark this page as you build your sports man cave and come back to it for a nice little reference guide for you! Good luck on building your cave!
