Missouri sports anchor who helped train future journalists dies at 43

Ben Arnet, the sports director at KOMU in Columbia–Jefferson City, Missouri, died Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025.

Arnet, 43, had been with the station, which is owned by the University of Missouri, for five years. He also spent time working in Arizona, Kansas and New York, according to KOMU. He also spent time working for the university’s athletic department.

A cause of death has not been confirmed by the station or Arnet’s family. 

Arnet was married and had a daughter. 

The station announced Arnet’s death on-air Aug. 29, 2025, and offered tributes to him.

“I firmly believe that what we do best, we do together, and Ben embraced that philosophy in his work,” KOMU General Manager Matt Garrett is quoted as saying on the station’s website. “Being the sports director at KOMU 8 means bringing students with you every step of the way, and sometimes that can be difficult if you don’t have the passion that Ben had for seeing the next generation of sports journalists take shape in front of his eyes. He was a tremendous asset to KOMU 8 and a landmark in the journeys of the students and staff who worked with him. He won’t be forgotten here at the station and in the mid-Missouri sports community.”

KOMU is operated by a combination of professional staff and students at the Missouri School of Journalism, making it a learning laboratory for future journalists. Many of the staffers also hold professorships and are active in teaching students both in the classroom and at the station.

The station maintains a commercial license and serves as the market’s NBC affiliate.

Arnet was born in Columbia and attended a local high school. He was a gradate of the Missouri School of Journalism.

“The Missouri School of Journalism and KOMU has lost a veteran sportscaster, a dedicated mentor and a consummate colleague in Ben Arnet,” the school’s dean, David Kurpius, is quoted as saying in the station’s story. “In addition to being a beloved voice in the community as KOMU-TV’s sports director, Ben was a key part of KOMU’s annual tradition of Friday Night Fever, during which he would help students coordinate coverage of high school football games all over mid-Missouri. Students often cite that experience — and Ben’s enthusiastic guidance — as a highlight of their college careers. He will be dearly missed.”

Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the date of Arnet’s death.