Proper attire for the press box

This was pretty close to what I usually wore. I had a black casual sports coat, I wore it over a black collared shirt, usually with jeans or khakis and loafers. I wore a tie if I had to do TV.

I remember running into a very well-known columnist twice in about a month, at the Super Bowl and the NCAA Tournament (at the United Center) and both times he was wearing sandals, tattered shorts and a Hawaiian shirt over a white T-shirt. He looked borderline homeless. I felt embarrassed for him, even though this guy has had a pretty incredible career.

 

What about a NFL Training Camp practice when it is really hot? I see some of the best in the business with basketball shorts or other loose comfy shorts and baseball caps and even sandals. I know I just wear some loose shorts and I always will wear a hat.

 

I always wore shorts to training camp. Sometimes it's well over 100 degrees and you're there for more than two hours at a time.

 

There's a group of internet guys that cover Big State U here that wear fedora hats to everything, from a game to a weekly press conference.

 

If I was going to be outside, I almost always wore a baseball hat. I was called out once for wearing a hat of the old alma mater while covering a team, even one that (at the time) never played that school, and I never made that mistake again.

It was never an issue of trying to look cool, it was more of an issue of keeping the sun out of my eyes and off of my bald head.

 

Yeah, I think weather conditions do dictate a lot. If I'm going to be outside in extreme heat, rain, mud, whatever, no point wearing something fancy because it's going to get messed up in the first half hour anyway. If I'm indoors in an arena, the worst I have to worry about is someone spilling beer all over me.

 

Anybody under age 60 who wears a fedora at all, much less to everything, needs to get slapped.

 

Maybe it's an homage to Drudge.

 

And the young guys are wearing porkpies, too. Egad.

 

What are people wearing in MLB press boxes nowadays? Is it still business casual or do you have to wear slacks/tie?

 

Not to mention Kangols. And berets.

 

Always over-dress your first time covering something. There's zero downside to being dressed better than your peers, even if you're going to eventually conform to slightly-better-than-norm.

First time I covered NBA, NFL and MLB I wore shirt, khakis and tie. Eventually lost the tie at MLB and NBA, but kept the tie for NFL games because people around me in the press box typically were local TV that were wearing ties, skirts, etc.

At my first NFL Combine, I did my "usual" and the guy next to me wore sweatpants. The next year I stuck with jeans and polo/dress shirts and was still one of the more "dressy" people there. Just seems to be a more casual event since they pack everyone in.