Ben Riegel was glued to SportsCenter growing up. “The six o’clock, eleven o’clock, one o’clock shows… that was my childhood,” he said. “I would watch it before school and have it on all the time. I thought I would be Stuart Scott.”
Saturday nights at home meant pizza, a sleeping bag, and watching games with his dad. Shaq. The Orlando Magic. The Braves. The Buffalo Bills. The Montreal Canadiens. “In 1995 all my teams were good,” he added.
His passion for sports stuck and he set his aspirations high, writing in his high school yearbook at United Christian Academy that he planned to work at ESPN someday. “Big aspirations for a kid who grew up on a dirt road in Coventry,” he laughed.
That certainty carried him to Lyndon State College (now the Lyndon campus of Vermont State University), where he majored in television studies and minored in psychology. After graduating in 2005, he remained on campus as an orientation leader while job searching.
A First Job, a Missed Phone Call, and a Pact Between Friends
ESPN finally called him for an interview. But afterward, he heard nothing. A little deflated, Ben took another job in Portland, Maine, working 2 a.m. to 5 a.m as an editor. and again from 4pm to 7pm running camera during the evening news for $7.29 an hour.
Two weeks into the Maine job, the phone rang mid-day. It was ESPN. Ben, dead asleep after working the early morning shift, told them no. “I thought I was dreaming,” he said. When he woke up and saw the Connecticut number on his phone, he realized it had been a real conversation. He called back and accepted the job.
Two weeks later, he was working in Bristol, Connecticut for ESPN. His friends Jared Higginbotham and Donna Poulter helped him get there. “Jared and I made a pact our senior year that if one of us got the job, the other would go too.” Jared stuck to the bargain and joined him in Connecticut. Donna ran the Orientation program during Ben’s senior year at Lyndon and helped support him in many different ways.
ESPN’s TV department, he learned quickly, was tight knit. He had gotten his first interview because of another Lyndon alum, Jennifer Hayes, who pushed his resume forward. It’s a favor he never forgets.
Producing the Moments People Remember
Ben’s career at ESPN only grew from those early days. It’s given him a front row seat to sports history. A basketball fan at heart, he’s produced pregame shows for NBA broadcasts in Australia, weekly roundups of Australian basketball, All-Star content, and has been to ten NBA Finals. He’s also produced multiple Super Bowl pregame shows, including winning a Telly award for one of his shows and started a baseball show working closely with MLB for the United Kingdom.
Ben was in London for the Red Sox and Yankees’ international games, worked on graphics for LeBron James’ “The Decision,” and edited video for the broadcast. He also created graphics for Michael Jordan’s Hall of Fame ceremony.
When we asked if he envisioned these opportunities back when he was watching SportsCenter at the end of a dirt road in rural Vermont, he laughed. “Getting to interview LeBron James… it’s not normal for a small town Vermont kid in their career,” he said.
Learning by Doing at Lyndon
Ben reflects fondly on his time at Lyndon. He lived in Wheelock and Arnold Halls and spent most of his time around News7, intramurals, and the mailroom. “Intramurals were the big thing I was a part of. Mostly basketball,” he says. He also refereed games, worked in the mailroom, and became close with Harry Swett, the longtime mailroom lead. “He was one of the first people I met there. He was the kindest, sweetest gem of a human,” Ben shared.
Academically, he found encouragement everywhere. “I was very lucky that Tim Lewis and the team were supportive. I said I wanted to be in sports, specifically a sports broadcaster, and Tim helped me find opportunities.”
Nick Cowdrey’s multimedia journalism class taught him how to do everything himself. “We learned how to be a one man band. Run the camera, be on camera, cover high school sports, shoot highlights, read the highlights on the desk, edit. If I created an opportunity, they figured out a way to support it.”
Those opportunities took him far from campus at times. He went to Worcester, Massachusetts, to cover UVM’s historic March Madness win over Syracuse. He even covered the Celtics and interviewed Gary Payton.
He said his ESPN career mirrors that mindset that was driven into him at Lyndon. “I am doing international work because I’ve been able to create that opportunity myself. I have always had someone who says ‘Go ahead. See what you can do.’ And that is the Lyndon experience to a T.”
Keeping Lyndon Close
Ben continues to stay connected to the campus and to the alumni who shaped him. “There are more than twenty Lyndon alumni at ESPN,” he added. He still talks with Meaghan Meachem, who was a year ahead of him in school and later became a faculty member at their alma mater. “We have strategized on how to grow the program and alumni connection. She cares about people and about the next generation of talent. She was like that in college too.”
He also comes back to speak with students. “I say yes because it is Lyndon,” he said.
He believes the culture he experienced there shaped everything that came afterward. “Tim Lewis and Liz Wheeler never said no. They created a culture where it was okay to make mistakes. They gave you a soft fall and the opportunity to learn.”
When asked to reflect on his career, he says it’s surreal. “I am a small town kid from Vermont. I am the only person from the Broadcast Journalism side who has become a production assistant all the way through producer (that he knows of). Sometimes I can’t believe it’s come together for me.”
Life Today and Encouragement for Today’s Students
Ben lives with his wife and their three kids, who span the pre-teen and teen years. They met in college when they were both working at a local grocery store. On Fridays, Ben is off work and often tries to substitute teach at his children’s or wife’s school. “It is how I stay connected to the community,” he shared.
To students considering Lyndon, he says it’s the best way to find out if you’re cut out for the industry. “It is one of the more unique experiences you can have,” he noted. “If you think you want to be part of this business, you are not going to get a better teaching and learning experience. The hands-on work, the broadcast experience, the community aspects, the student-directed news program. You found out really quickly if you were built for it.”
His advice to graduating seniors is simple: “enjoy the moment and soak in every bit of knowledge you can. The minute you leave those four walls it is different. Your professor is hard on you for a reason. They see something inside you that you might not see yet. Embrace the feedback and the criticism. Once you are out of those four walls, it is real.”
He paused, then added, “I have had an incredible experience and a blessed life. A lot of that came from my four years at Lyndon. I try to give back as much as I can.”
“Every October 3rd is my ESPN anniversary,” he stated. “I never take it for granted. Even the early days when I was eating Spaghetti-Os and went six weeks without a paycheck to be able to take my dream job here. Every moment has been worth it.”