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 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 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. ...
University High School University High School may refer to:
Australia
* University High School, Melbourne, Victoria
Canada
* University Hill Secondary School, Vancouver, British Columbia
United States Arizona
* University High School (Tolleson)
* University High S ...
while enrolled at S.E.L.F. Aside from playing football, Maller also had an interest in sports journalism and broadcasting. After finishing high school, Maller enrolled in Saddleback College in the nearby city of Mission Viejo. He continued his interest in sports broadcasting doing Saddleback College Gauchos men's basketball and football games on KSBR before landing a job as an AMsports radio journalist.
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 fan
Clipper Darrell
Darrell Bailey (born ), better known as Clipper Darrell, is a superfan of the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association. A season ticket holder since the 2000–01 season, he dances, leads cheers, and taunts the opposing team ...
in an unsuccessful attempt to help lead the push for free agent LeBron James to join the Clippers via free agency. In the end, LeBron James ended up signing with the Miami Heat 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
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, "Ben Maller's Chicken Finger Basket" at The Landing Eatery & Pub 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 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 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.