Dave Benz is an American broadcaster who formerly served as the television play-by-play announcer for the
Minnesota Timberwolves
The Minnesota Timberwolves (often referred to as the Wolves or T-wolves) are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Divisio ...
of the
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...
(NBA).
Broadcasting career
Comcast SportsNet
Benz hosted several programs for the
San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...
, such as ''49ers Postgame Live'', ''49ers Central'', and ''49ers Press Conference''. He hosted pregame/postgame shows for the
Golden State Warriors
The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. Founded in 1946 i ...
,
Oakland Athletics
The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...
, and the
San Jose Sharks
The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California. The Sharks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Con ...
and was an anchor for ''SportsNet Central''. He also did play-by-play for college basketball, reported for ''Sportsnet Reporters'', and was the voice of the
San Jose SaberCats
The San Jose SaberCats were a professional arena football team based in San Jose, California. The SaberCats had been members of the Arena Football League (AFL) since 1995 (the year in which the team was founded); and until 2015, they belonged to ...
of the
Arena Football League
The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...
.
KNBR-AM
He has also worked for KNBR-AM as a fill-in host for ''The Gary Radnich Show'', ''The Damon Bruce Show'', and ''Sportsphone 680''.
WTTG-TV
Benz was also employed by
WTTG-TV as a sports anchor/reporter and hosted pregame/halftime/postgame shows for the
Washington Redskins
The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...
.
The Mountain
Benz also called college basketball games for the
MountainWest Sports Network.
KLZ-560 AM
Dave also was a talk show host for KLZ-560 AM and was the host of a four-hour talk show host, ''Sportstown''.
Fox Sports/Fox Sports Net/Bally Sports
While working for the
Fox Sports
Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The name originates from Fox Broadcasting Company in the United States, which in turn derives its name from Fox Fi ...
family, hosted several shows for
Fox Sports Rocky Mountain such as ''AFL Weekly'', ''Broncos Preview'', ''Rockies All Access'', ''Rockies Roundup'', ''Crush Weekly'', ''Insider Edition'', and ''The Buffalo Stampede''. He did play-by-play for
Colorado Rockies
The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. Th ...
spring training, hosted pregame/postgame shows for various sports such as college football and basketball, play-by-play commentator for the
Colorado Crush,
Colorado State Tigers men's basketball, and
Colorado Buffalos men's and women's basketball and
Denver Pioneers men's basketball, sideline reporting for the
Colorado Crush and the
Colorado Buffalos; football and men's basketball. He also did some sideline reporting for the
Fox NFL Sunday
''Fox NFL Sunday'' is an American sports television program broadcast on the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox television network. The show debuted on September 4, 1994, and serves as the pre-game show for the network's National Football League (NFL ...
. He was the host of ''Mavericks Live'', a pregame/postgame show host for the
Dallas Mavericks
The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Divisi ...
and performed the same role for the
San Antonio Spurs
The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...
. He also hosted ''Florida Sports Report'' and ''Southwest Sports Report''.
Other work
He worked as sports anchor and sports reporter at
WTTV-TV and
WXIN-TV as well as a sports director for
WUTR-TV. He was the pregame/postgame host for the
Colorado Rockies
The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. Th ...
Radio Network and hosted shows ''Softball 360'', ''SledHead 24/7'', and ''Autoweek''. He was also the pregame/halftime/postgame host for the
Green Bay Packers Radio Network. His other play-by-play experiences came from the
Green Bay Bombers and the
Wisconsin Blast. The
Minnesota Timberwolves
The Minnesota Timberwolves (often referred to as the Wolves or T-wolves) are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Divisio ...
hired Benz to replace
Tom Hanneman as the voice of the Timberwolves. He was let go by the Timberwolves in May 2022.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Benz, Dave
Television anchors from Washington, D.C.
Television anchors from Indianapolis
Colorado Rockies announcers
Golden State Warriors announcers
San Jose Sharks announcers
Oakland Athletics announcers
Green Bay Packers announcers
Living people
American television sports announcers
American television sports anchors
American radio sports announcers
American talk radio hosts
NBA broadcasters
Major League Baseball broadcasters
Arena football announcers
Women's college basketball announcers in the United States
National Hockey League broadcasters
NFL announcers
College basketball announcers in the United States
Minnesota Timberwolves announcers
College football announcers
Olympic Games broadcasters
Year of birth missing (living people)