I have seen some sit, some stand, some use the jumbo earphone headsets, others use a mic on the desk, etc.
Maybe they just use whatever seats and equipment is provided by the stadium?
That was so annoying. They must have gone on for about 20 minutes bowing and scraping at the altar of Rocky while only occasionally admitting that there was indeed a football game going on down on the field.
When it comes to microphones/headsets, it’s more personal preference for the announcers. For example, ESPN (and former WGN) baseball announcer Steve Stone always uses a hand mic on the desk, even while the other guys in the booth have headset mics.
The stand/sit thing can sometimes depend on how much room they have in the broadcast booth. Baseball announcers are less likely to do the stand-up thing, because baseball press boxes are usually more crowded. When Joe Buck does those “standup” intros with the field behind him on Fox, he’s actually sitting on the desk.
Ah! Thanks! For some reason, I was assuming that some of the older stadiums (or those stadiums that belong to owners/teams with less money) may not have some of the more ergonomic (and newer) gear and facilities available.
I regularly do (American) football games (college and high school) on radio and a couple of times a year I do television.
Many broadcasters sit and do the call. I for one do not. I much prefer to stand and to the call. There are a couple of reasons for this. Some of the pressboxes I do my broadcasts from have poor angles, lighting, windows and the like. In fact, there have been times I have had to hang out the windows of the pressbox to get a view of the end zone (during snow storms this is scary).
Primarily, however, I prefer standing because I find I get the “feel” for the game better that way. The emotion comes through better if I am able to move around and express the action better than when I am seated. I can swing my arms and do similar body language oriented gesticulations than when I am seated.
I have partnered (I have primarily done play-by-play) with both color standers and sitters in the pressbox (generally my stats guys (men or women) are sitters and my spotters are standers although I have had a number that were the opposite).
Regarding mikes, I have fallen in love with the headset microphone, I can wander all over the press box and carry whatever I need in my hands from a roster, to a stats sheet, to the beverage of my choice and continue to broadcast. I like the type with only one ear covered however so I can listen to my people in the box.
I started with a hand held mike and I can still work with one. Basically, the only time I use one these days in the pressbox is during interviews.
Another advantage of headset mikes is that extraneous noise from the bleachers is kept off air. Invariably, some drunk idiot sets up behind you at basketball games trying to get some moronic (and often obscene) message out to the audience.
In my early days as a broadcaster, I used telephone link ups, and litterally broadcast in to a telephone. One station I worked for did not broadcast live and I did the whole thing into a tape recorder and ran it when I got the tape back to the station. That one taught me to be acccurate, because I knew the players and coach would all be listening to it the following day when it was broadcast.
TV
That being said. When I am doing basketball from courtside I sit rather than stand. Baseball I usually stand. Soccer I usually stand. Wrestling I sit as close to the official scorer as I can get since the ref makes all reaction to him (or her).
When I was in the broadcast booths in college, they just turned the heat up to 100 or so. Sure it’s crazy inefficient and it all goes right out the window, but it’s only a few hours a week and it makes everyone happy.