Karen Loftus joined the WFLA sports department in January 2020, as the Weekend Sports Anchor/ Reporter. She spent the last 3 years in New Orleans, where she covered the Saints, Pelicans, LSU and Tulane, among other sports in the Crescent City– capped-off by the historic season the LSU Tigers had winning a National Championship and Joe Burrow winning the Heisman Trophy. Before that she was in Roanoke, Virginia and Hagerstown, Maryland covering everything from the ACC to NASCAR.

She is a proud Richmond Spider and Maryland native, but has always loved Florida, coming down often since she was little to visit her grandparents who lived outside of Orlando. Karen is thrilled to now be a resident of the Sunshine State and call Tampa home, as a part of the 8 On Your Side team.

Outside of work, she spends her free time mainly being outside– running and biking, waterskiing, kayaking, enjoying time by the pool doing crossword puzzles and reading– and also cooking, going to concerts and of course going to sporting events. She is eager to cover Tampa sports and explore her new city and the surrounding area– including the amazing beaches nearby! Please reach-out to Karen with story ideas or even suggestions of things to do around Tampa at kloftus@wfla.com or connect on Twitter at @WFLAKaren