FanUp.ai
Eric Spitz is a serial entrepreneur who was the former chairman and president of the Orange County Register, and the co-founder of the sports tech pioneer, Trakus. Spitz leverages more than twenty-seven years of executive leadership and deal-making expertise to lead and manage complex situations and companies at the intersection of technology, business, media, sports and policy.
Sensing the impending emergence of democratized artificial intelligence, Spitz founded Rootz.ai in 2021. The company has applied for a US patent, successfully raised venture capital, and spun out it first licensee, FanUp.ai to take advantage of its Dynamic Demand Analysis platform.
Beginning in 2016, Spitz focused on the emerging cannabis industry in California and nationally. He launched C4 Distribution with former California Attorney General, Bill Lockyer, and in 2017 the two helped design the distribution segment of California’s cannabis regulatory framework.
Spitz led the purchase of Freedom Communications in July 2012 and served as the company’s President and Chairman until March 2016. Upon acquisition, the company’s portfolio included the Orange County Register and five other daily newspapers. Spitz led the financing and corporate development efforts for the company, including the sale of the non-core papers and the acquisition of the Riverside Press Enterprise.
From 2008 through 2011, Spitz served as Chief Financial Officer at Narragansett Brewing Company, where he helped restart the classic beer brand that had served as the official beer of the Boston Red Sox for more than 30 years. In 2024 the company was listed as the 22nd largest craft beer in the US, and you can find Narragansett at Fenway Park again. Hi Neighbor!
From 2004 to September 2008, Spitz served as co-founder and President of UFood Restaurant Group, a concept that offers healthy food selections in airports, hospitals, health clubs and other high-traffic locations. As President, Spitz hired and led a team that opened more than 25 franchised restaurants, including with celebrity spokesman, George Foreman and his sons. In 1997, Spitz founded the sports technology company Trakus, which pioneered the use of digital information systems in the world of sports. Trakus’ platform formed the basis of new data-gathering capabilities in hockey, golf, horse racing, auto racing and other sports. He served as CEO of Trakus through August 2004.
A prolific speaker and writer, Spitz appears frequently on television and at investor conferences, business schools and industry events. He has produced a Harvard Business School case, a US patent, and numerous op-ed pieces in the Orange County Register, Real Clear Politics, and the Wall Street Journal. Spitz received an MBA from the Sloan School of Management at MIT, and a BA from the University of Pennsylvania. He resides in Newport Beach, California with his wife and three athletic daughters.
