Sam Gelfand

Sam Gelfand is an award-winning sportscaster and TV journalist who’s never quite done things conventionally.

Sam joined Local News 8 in December 2023. He is primarily a member of the Sports Line team, but by the end of his first month in Idaho Falls, he’d served in every on-air role at least once.

The first TV show he ever watched, just hours after being born in a Manhattan hospital, was ESPN's Baseball Tonight. At 3-years-old, he would mute Mets games on television and do the play-by-play himself. He probably wasn't very good back then.

Sam began his professional career at age 14, learned the art of sportscasting from an improv comedian, and studied to be a reporter under a photographer’s learning tree. He’s called sports games to 100,000 people, warmed up a crowd for President Obama, and even interned at a Lamborghini dealership. He’s also done freelance work for The Daily Beast and CNN.

Sam’s nomadic upbringing began in New York City. It included prolonged stops along both coasts of Florida and Princeton, NJ before attending Syracuse University. After graduating with a degree in Broadcast and Digital Journalism, he spent a year as a multimedia journalist at a TV station in Tulsa, OK.

Outside of the newsroom, he’s a heavy metal musician and producer who cherishes his Mustang and plays far too many video games for his own good. He has a horrible taste in sports teams. He eventually plans to write a memoir titled, “That’s Okay, We Can Fix It In Post.”

Sam firmly believes everyone has a story. Please feel free to email him yours at sam.gelfand@localnews8.com.