Benjamin "Big Ben" Maller (born April 29, 1975) is an American sports radio host who hosts a weekday radio show on
Fox Sports Radio
Fox Sports Radio is an American sports radio network. Based in Los Angeles, California, the network is operated and managed by Premiere Networks in a content partnership with Fox Corporation's Fox Sports division and iHeartMedia, parent company ...
, which airs 11pm-3am PT/2am-6am ET. Maller is considered one of the first influential sports bloggers, because of several stories he broke on his now-defunct website. Maller joined the
NBC Sports Network
NBCSN was an American sports television channel owned by the NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It originally launched on July 1, 1995, as the Outdoor Life Network (OLN), which was dedicated to programming prim ...
as a regular contributor to ''
NBC SportsTalk
''NBC SportsTalk'' was a daily sports talk show on American television channel NBCSN named after the various talk sites on the NBCSports.com. It was the flagship show for the network.Irvine, California
Irvine () is a Planned community, master-planned city in South Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the 1960s and the city was formally incorporated on ...
and attended
Irvine High School
Irvine High School is a public high school, located in the city of Irvine in Orange County, California, United States. It is part of the Irvine Unified School District. The school is located in the El Camino Real neighborhood in the north-central ...
. Maller began to fall behind in school and consequently was placed in S.E.L.F. (Secondary Education Learning Facility, now known as Creekside High School), the city's
alternative education
Alternative education encompasses many pedagogical approaches differing from mainstream pedagogy. Such alternative learning environments may be found within state, charter, and independent schools as well as home-based learning environments. ...
program. Nonetheless he managed to play
high school football
High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...
for the town's University High School while enrolled at S.E.L.F. Aside from playing football, Maller also had an interest in
sports journalism
Sports journalism is a form of writing that reports on matters pertaining to sporting topics and competitions. Sports journalism started in the early 1800s when it was targeted to the social elite and transitioned into an integral part of the ...
and
broadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution (business), distribution of sound, audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic medium (communication), mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio ...
. After finishing high school, Maller enrolled in
Saddleback College
Saddleback College (Saddleback) is a public community college in Mission Viejo, California. It is part of the California Community College system and awards over 300 associate degrees, academic certificates, and occupational skills awards in 19 ...
in the nearby city of
Mission Viejo
Mission Viejo ( ; corruption of ''Misión Vieja'', Spanish for "Old Mission") is a commuter city in the Saddleback Valley in Orange County, California, United States. Mission Viejo is considered one of the largest master-planned communities eve ...
. He continued his interest in sports broadcasting doing Saddleback College Gauchos men's basketball and football games on
KSBR
KSBR (88.5 FM, "The SoCal Sound") is a non-commercial educational radio station licensed to Mission Viejo, California and broadcasting to the Orange County area. The station is owned by Saddleback College and airs adult album alternative (AAA) a ...
sports radio
Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often- boisterous on-ai ...
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
The occurred at 14:46 JST (05:46 UTC) on 11 March. The magnitude 9.0–9.1 (M) undersea megathrust earthquake had an epicenter in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region, and lasted approximately six minutes ...
, Maller was able to get live reports from nearby the disaster, through a caller named Donald. Donald had attempted to call into the weeknight broadcaster, JT The Brick. Ultimately, JT The Brick decided not to put Donald on the airwaves. The next night, Donald called The Ben Maller Show and, thanks to producer Miranda Moreno, was put on the air right away and was able to provide live updates about the events in Fukushima.
In May 2010, Maller led a march at Staples Center with fellow
Los Angeles Clippers
The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division in the league's Western Conference. The Clipper ...
fan Clipper Darrell in an unsuccessful attempt to help lead the push for free agent
LeBron James
LeBron Raymone James Sr. (; born December 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "King James", he is widely considered one of the greatest pl ...
to join the
Clippers
The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division in the league's Western Conference. The Clipper ...
via free agency. In the end, LeBron James ended up signing with the
Miami Heat
The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Southe ...
as part of a historic team headlined by "The Big Three.'
In 2011, Ben Maller exposed an NBA slam dunk contest conspiracy. The league had sent out a press release referencing Clippers Blake Griffin as the winner, BEFORE the contest had been completed.
Over the course of his career, Maller has had multiple menu items named after him in various restaurants around the United States. Former items include the "Malzone," in
Syracuse, New York
Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffa ...
"Ben Maller Chicken Fingers in
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...
and the "Maller Pizza," in
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the List of municipalities in Mi ...
As of February 2017, the only existing menu items left are the "Maller Chicken Tender Sandwich" at th Sportsbook Bar and Grill in
Denver, Colorado
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
, "Ben Maller's Chicken Finger Basket" at The Landing Eatery &
Pub
A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...
in Liberty, Missouri and the "Maller Fowler" sandwich at Th Famous Flamingo Club in Lawrence, Kansas.
In June 2016, one Cleveland fan celebrated the Cavs NBA championship by parading around the championship parade with a sign that included Ben Maller's photo with Skip Bayless, Stephen A. Smith and others as a "hater".
Broadcasting career
His career highlights include reporting for XTRA Sports 690am in
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
in the mid-1990s and co-hosting the ''Ben & Dave Show'' on XTRA Sports 1150 in LA (late-1990s) and ''Dodger Talk'' from 1996 to 2000. Maller joined
Fox Sports Radio
Fox Sports Radio is an American sports radio network. Based in Los Angeles, California, the network is operated and managed by Premiere Networks in a content partnership with Fox Corporation's Fox Sports division and iHeartMedia, parent company ...
for the launch of the network in August 2001 as an update anchor weekend morning co-host.
In 2003, Maller signed a contract to become the "sports gossip guy," fo Fox Sports providing daily sports rumors and notes. Maller is credited with helping the website overtake ESPN.com in unique visitors for the first time, in February 2007.
On January 20, 2009, Maller and the Third Shift staff were fired as part of
Clear Channel Communications
iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc.), a company fou ...
' layoff of 1850 employees. He was re-hired August 11, 2009.
Maller became the first Southern California broadcaster to host a show on Boston's WEEI when he filled in for Mike Adams on "
Planet Mikey
Planet Mikey was a sports talk radio program on Boston's WEEI-FM 93.7 FM featuring Mikey Adams. The show was officially announced on December 15, 2005 and ran from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays. In 2018, The Planet Mikey Podcast was created and i ...
," June 2009. On loan from Fox Sports Radio, he returned to Boston to audition for the third seat on the Kirk & Callahan morning show on WEEI, September 2016.
Maller joined
NBC Sports Network
NBCSN was an American sports television channel owned by the NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It originally launched on July 1, 1995, as the Outdoor Life Network (OLN), which was dedicated to programming prim ...
November 2011 as a regular contributor to the daily "
NBC SportsTalk
''NBC SportsTalk'' was a daily sports talk show on American television channel NBCSN named after the various talk sites on the NBCSports.com. It was the flagship show for the network.