Navigate What’s Next in the Sports & Entertainment Industry 

Wednesday, October 29, at 3:00 PM ET | 12:00 PM PT

Roundtable Summary

The sports and entertainment industry is constantly evolving – leaving organizations at risk of falling behind. The changing landscape of fan engagement, digital innovation, operational pressures, and shifting consumer expectations is forcing leaders to adopt new strategies to remain competitive and relevant.   

Join IT leaders in this roundtable discussion to explore challenges, successes, and priorities while discovering actionable insights to stay ahead. Learn how others are navigating complex issues, adapting to emerging trends, and ensuring they stay at the forefront of sports and live entertainment. 

Join this dynamic roundtable discussion to learn: 

  • How fellow IT leaders are adapting to stay competitive in a new era of sports and entertainment.
  • Best practices for adopting strategies that address operational and technological pressures.
  • New insights into how IT can drive transformation to meet the needs of modern fans.

Roundtable Speakers

 

 

Elizabeth Silva Smulski 

Senior Research Analyst

  • Elizabeth Silva Smulski is a strategic and results-driven analyst with deep expertise in market research and data synthesis across the sports, gambling, and hospitality industries. She leverages strong technical skills in Microsoft Office to create visually compelling deliverables that enhance the communication of complex research findings.

  • Elizabeth has demonstrated consistent leadership in project management, adeptly coordinating resources, timelines, and deliverables to ensure high-quality outcomes. She has led teams of 2-3 analysts, upholding rigorous research standards and mentoring team members to deliver actionable insights. Her ability to distill data into meaningful intelligence has informed strategic decision-making through deep dives into market trends and secondary and primary research.

  • Prior to Info-Tech, Elizabeth’s journey included an Honours Bachelor of Commerce in hospitality and tourism management, and a diploma in hospitality management from Humber Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning. Elizabeth also has a certificate from New York University in global sports management.

Larry Fretz

Managing Partner, Gaming, Hospitality, Sports & Entertainment

  • As the Gaming & Hospitality practice lead at Info-Tech Research Group, Larry Fretz manages a team of analysts to develop and deliver best-practice research specific to the gaming and hospitality industry. As owner of the GHRC research agenda, he is responsible for agenda planning and directing research in a timely and relevant manner for our customer base. He also provides sales and customer support and delivers advisory consulting services and workshops.

  • Larry brings more than a decade of international Gaming & Hospitality and 25+ years of overall technology, marketing, supply chain, and other business operations expertise. Larry has held CIO/VP IT and executive leadership positions with the Palms Casino Resort, the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas and Niagara Casinos (Fallsview Casino Resort & Casino Niagara), resulting in respected knowledge and experience of gaming and hospitality systems and an understanding of the industry’s strategic, start-up opening and day-to-day challenges. In these hands-on executive roles, he was responsible for all aspects of highly regulated and available enterprise IT from infrastructure & operations, project & portfolio management, security & risk, CRM, and architecture & applications.

  • Earlier in his career, Larry held executive positions and was recognized for leveraging IT in improving company performance, growth, achieving business goals, and being a subject matter expert across multiple technology areas and business functions at such global companies as Day-Timers and PBB Global Logistics. Larry has been an innovative and action-oriented force in business technology since 1986 when he founded Micro-Wise Systems and developed the first fully computerized library management software solution.

August Hummelbrunner

Research Analyst

  • August Hummelbrunner is a strategic and results-driven analyst with knowledge in market research and data synthesis across the sports, gambling, and hospitality industries. She applies advanced Microsoft Office skills to produce visually engaging materials that effectively convey complex research insights.

  • August has demonstrated consistent leadership in operational and project management, beginning with her role in the retail sector where she led a team of 4-6 employees. She successfully oversaw the migration from Lightspeed to Shopify, managing inventory systems, customer relationships, and staff operations. At Ernst & Young, she supported client engagements by developing robust analytical tools in Excel and crafting executive-level presentations. She also built a reusable testing framework using Jira and Confluence for a major credit union’s annual risk analyses, and co-designed a banking system to align internal operations with stakeholder needs.

  • Before joining Info-Tech, August earned an Honors Business Administration degree from Ivey Business School, where she demonstrated a strong commitment to community engagement by organizing fundraising events for the Ronald McDonald House and supporting Ontario’s sports community through event coordination and coaching.

Register for Our Roundtable

About Us

Info-Tech Research Group is the world’s fastest-growing information technology research and advisory company, proudly serving over 30,000 IT professionals.

We produce unbiased and highly relevant research to help CIOs and IT leaders make strategic, timely, and well-informed decisions. We partner closely with IT teams to provide everything they need, from actionable tools to analyst guidance, ensuring they deliver measurable results for their organizations.