In the summer of 2021, Mike Benton ’04 got a text that changed his life. After nearly two decades of broadcasting for minor league baseball and hockey teams, a colleague texted Benton to see if he was interested in becoming the in-game host for the Seattle Kraken, a National Hockey League (NHL) franchise which would celebrate their inaugural season that fall. Benton, who had dreamed of becoming a broadcaster for an NHL team since he was a kid, replied, “Absolutely!” There are only 32 teams in the NHL, which means there are a very limited number of spots calling games for the top level of hockey. Getting this job would be the pinnacle of Benton’s career; he just had to nail the interview—and he did. “By the time I got hired, you had to scrape me off the ceiling. I called my wife and just about broke down in tears. Finally, I said the words I had longed to say for so long, ‘I did it!’”
Originally from the Seattle area, Benton’s family moved to Azusa when he was seven-years-old. Growing up, he developed a passion for playing and watching sports. Although he liked playing baseball and was a talented golfer, his favorite sport to watch was always hockey. Benton fell in love with the sport after watching “the great one,” Wayne Gretzky, score goal after goal for the Los Angeles Kings. Gretzky’s creative style of play inspired Benton to mock call games in front of his TV at home, dreaming of the day when he might do it for a living.
After high school, Benton spent two years attending classes at a junior college and a local four-year university before transferring to Azusa Pacific University where he found his purpose and calling. “APU had a fit that no other school could match from multiple areas when it came to helping me reach my goals in preparing me for my career and in spiritual growth,” Benton said. “That was so significant for me, to be able to grow in my broadcasting skills, but more importantly to grow in Christ.” Benton studied communications and began getting real world experience calling play-by-play for APU’s men’s basketball, women’s basketball, and football games through APU’s campus radio station, KAPU (now part of ZU Media), and locally through campus television and Comcast Cable outlets. “Calling games for all those sports gave me confidence and reassurance that the more reps I built up, the likelier it was that I was building a bridge to a long term future in broadcasting.” Toward the end of his undergraduate years, thanks to a strong connection with Gary Pine, APU’s athletic director, Benton received an opportunity to be a sideline reporter for the NAIA Final Four with a professional TV crew. This experience was pivotal in starting to build his demo tape.
Before graduating, Benton attended a local sportscasting camp and made a connection with renowned broadcaster Roxy Bernstein, who served the camp in a counselor-like “tutor” role. The two kept in touch and Bernstein offered Benton his first opportunity to work for a professional sports team, the High Desert Mavericks, where Benton called middle innings of play-by-play and assisted Bensteing with the team’s media relation efforts, also calling full games when Bernstein was out of town. Benton started his work while still attending classes at APU, one month before commencement. “The day after graduation, I wasted little time. Roxy had an out-of-town commitment, so I jumped in the car that morning, diploma still fresh off the stage, and commuted two hours to fill in for a full road game broadcast against the Lancaster Jethawks,” Benton said.
“I knew what I wanted to do, and I knew that when those doors opened, you had to be ready to say yes at any point in time. Roxy made a lot of doors open for me in that one season.”
After the summer of working for the Mavericks, Benton got a job calling play-by-play for UC Riverside’s women’s basketball team. Although he enjoyed the experience, Benton knew he wanted to work in professional sports. So he flooded the market with his demo tape, applying to hundreds of sports jobs across the country. He got an opportunity with the Dayton Dragons, the High-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds, and moved to Ohio. This experience taught Benton about all the responsibilities involved with working for a minor league team as he wore many hats. In addition to calling the middle innings and hosting the pre and post game shows, Benton wrote program stories, secured and booked interviews, and assisted with many needs for the front office. “It was very challenging at first. I went through the school of hard knocks when it came to organizational skills,” Benton said. “But after a few months, I learned what I needed to do to be ready for each game. It gave me the roadmap I would need to multitask effectively as I worked for other minor league teams.”
With this experience under his belt, Benton returned to California and began serving as director of broadcasting and media relations for the Stockton Thunder (minor league hockey) and Lightning (arena football). Although Benton enjoyed working for professional baseball teams, the opportunity to work for a hockey team represented a major step in his career. “I knew broadcasting hockey was always my calling,” he said. Benton went on to call hundreds of games on the radio for the Thunder and Lightning. Although the venue the teams played in was small, it was always packed with crowds of fans cheering on their team. “It was awesome to watch the sports landscape of Stockton legitimately evolve before my eyes.”
During his time in Stockton, Benton met and married his wife, Amy. Two years after getting married, Benton received a job opportunity with the Alaska Aces, a minor league hockey team in Anchorage. Benton’s first year with the Aces was a thrilling one as the team went on to win the Kelly Cup (the minor league championship). The second year was even better from a personal standpoint as he and his wife had their first child, Lukas. “I had a great boss, the majority owner of the team, who blessed Amy and I with the resources we needed to support our family,” Benton said.
However, Benton left the Aces after two seasons as ownership began to fall on hard times, ultimately seeking a new job closer to family in California. After several months of job hunting, Benton admitted he “began to lose hope.” He had interviewed with several teams, but nothing had panned out. “A lot of doors were closing and I thought that might be it for my broadcasting career, but neither my wife nor God ever gave up on me,” he said. “Thankfully I got a call from the Everett Silvertips just a month before the season started and I found out that their broadcaster was leaving and they needed a replacement as soon as possible.” Benton began serving as the director of broadcasting and public relations for Everett in 2015. He called many thrilling games over the coming years, including the longest game in CHL history, a five-overtime contest in the playoffs against the Victoria Royals that sent the Silvertips to the next round of the playoffs. Benton loved working for the Silvertips for six years, but when he got the text about the Kraken’s job opening, he knew it was time to move up to the big leagues.
In his role, Benton anchors the pre-game, intermission, and post-game coverage of all Kraken games on the team’s radio flagship 93.3 KJR-FM. He loves working home games because he can interact and develop relationships with fans. “It really is the best job in the world,” he said. Although the Kraken struggled during their first season in the NHL, they grew together as a team and advanced to the Stanley Cup Playoffs the following year. Benton’s favorite memory with the Kraken is watching the team win a magical game seven in the first round of the playoffs against the Colorado Avalanche. “I was at our road studio setup at the 32 Bar and Grill restaurant, inside our team’s practice facility, and it was packed shoulder-to-shoulder with fans,” Benton said.
“Watching them win was one of the most electrifying moments of my life as I saw people high fiving, crying, and hugging each other in celebration. It was phenomenal.”
Benton is truly living his dream as a professional hockey broadcaster. “My mentor, the legendary sportscaster Bob Miller, told me when I was young to pick a job where I enjoy getting out of bed and going to work each day,” Benton said. “I don’t feel I’ve worked a day in my life ever since I got into this profession. It’s not a job. It’s a calling for me.” While Benton loves broadcasting, he knows that it’s ultimately not as important as his family or his faith. He and his wife have cultivated a love for Christ as has Lukas and their second son, Liam. Benton strives to live out his faith by being a shining example for Christ, treating others with kindness and compassion, equipped by what he learned at APU. Thinking back to his time in college, Benton wished he could tell his college self the same thing he would to current students. “Whatever your dream is, be ready to work for it. If you stick with it, work hard, and pray about it, the Lord will make it come true.”