🏀TPG bets big on college sports; First Cash wants to come 'home'; Fort Worth Report CEO resigns.

Hillwood announced two Class A speculative industrial buildings — Alliance Westport 15, a 798,494-square-foot facility at Mobility Way and Intermodal Parkway, and Alliance Gateway 34, a 310,036-square-foot building at Westport Parkway and Independence Parkway. Alliance Westport offers direct connectivity to Intermodal Parkway, FM 156, Perot Field and the BNSF Railway’s Alliance Intermodal Facility. Alliance Gateway is four miles east, between US 377 and the recently expanded State Highway 170. Construction is expected to be completed during 2026.

Fort Worth-based TPG signed an agreement to acquire Plano-based Learfield, a leading media and technology company powering college athletics. The company is the monetization engine for collegiate sports intellectual property, linking 12,000+ brands and 1,200+ institutions. It offers a suite of sponsorship and media solutions, ticketing technology, licensing management, name, image, and likeness strategy, and AI-enabled data platforming. TPG's infusion of money enables further growth and innovation. 

Chris Cobler, the first and only CEO of the non-profit Fort Worth Report newsletter, resigned after five years, citing an illness in the family. One of the Report's founders, former Star-Telegram executive Wes Turner, will be interim CEO. 

Trains are trying, why not planes? Reports are out that United Airlines' CEO, during a Feb. 25 meeting with President Donald Trump, suggested United and American Airlines should merge. 

American Airlines plans to introduce electronic boarding gates within Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport this summer. It will be the first U.S. airline to launch the technology at scale. The e-gates are meant to automatically validate boarding passes and regulate the flow of passengers on the jet bridge. There will be touchscreen instructions for passengers to scan their boarding pass. 

American Airlines has joined major airlines United and Southwest by supporting use of airline boarding passes in Apple Wallet, available since the introduction of iOS 26.

Fort Worth-based First Cash Holdings is seeking approval in June from holders of its 43-million-plus shares for approval to reincorporate from Delaware to Texas by conversion. The Board unanimously recommended the move. First Cash is the largest global owner of pawn shops. 

The Board of Regents of the Texas A&M University System voted unanimously to name Dr. Susan Ballabina as the sole finalist for President of Texas A&M University. Dr. Ballabina serves as Executive Vice Chancellor of the Texas A&M University System, where she oversees system-wide operations, advances key strategic initiatives and works closely with the Board of Regents, university presidents and agency leadership across Texas.

GKN Aerospace launched TITAN-AM (Titanium Industrialization and Technology Advancement for Near-net Additive Manufacturing), an $8.4-million program in partnership with the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory. The initiative is focused on advancing and industrializing Laser Metal Deposition with Wire (LMD-w) technology to enable next-generation aerostructures. The work will be done within GKN Aerospace’s Global Technology Centre in Fort Worth. 

In this corner, Fort Worth and Aledo. In the far corner, Willow Park. The cities are in a dispute of a 10.9-acre stretch of right-of-way that attorneys for Aledo and Fort Worth say was improperly annexed by Willow Park, a move that ultimately allowed the latter to bring the $500-million Dean Ranch development into its boundaries. Willow Park denied the allegations, and mediation efforts last month failed to produce a resolution. A judge set a hearing for next month

Fort Worth-based BNSF Railway CEO Katie Farmer talks extensively at short-line conference how proposed merger would hurt the short-line business. 

BNSF Railway and Chicago's Metra have agreed to a contract, extending commuter rail service on the BNSF Line in the Chicago area for another five years with a five-year extension possible. The relationship between the Class I railroad and the commuter rail system dates to the creation of Metra in 1983.

Arlington cut the ribbon on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive between Bardin and SE Green Oaks. The road will serve as a key north-south arterial that will help open the west side of the Arlington airport for development.

Reata Restaurant is marking 30 years in Fort Worth with a year-long celebration that kicks off May 3 with an exclusive 30-dish tasting dinner. “We didn’t survive a tornado, a subsequent building closure, a pandemic, the Great Texas Freeze, and two relocations just to let 30 years pass quietly,” said Mike Micallef, president of Reata Restaurants. Go here for all the events. 

JLL’s Dallas-Fort Worth 2026 first-quarter industrial report shows the market had a strong start, posting more than 6-million square feet of absorption. That represents the market's largest first-quarter performance since 2021. The full report is here. 

Lockheed Martin Aeronautics won a $23.3-million contract to provide maintenance and sustainment operations of the U.S. Reprogramming Laboratory and Partner Support Complex facilities and systems. These efforts are to support the Air Force, the Navy, the F-35 Lightning II program’s non-U.S. Department of War participants, and the F-35 Lightning II program’s Foreign Military Sales participants. Twenty percent of the work will be performed in Fort Worth.

Lockheed Martin increased the capacity of its venture capital fund, Lockheed Martin Ventures, from $400 million to $1 billion — the largest boost in investment since the fund was established in 2007. Go here to see what the funds will go toward. 

The Texas Attorney General's office is investigating Lululemon USA as to whether the company misled consumers about the safety, quality and health impacts of its products. Lululemon generated more than $11 billion in fiscal year 2025. Research and consumer concerns have raised questions about the potential presence of synthetics and chemicals in its apparel that may be associated with endocrine disruption, infertility, cancer and other health issues.

Grapevine-based GameStop launches Power Packs today. The digital platform, accessible at powerpacks.com, is designed for collectors to buy digital packs that can be used to unlock PSA-graded trading cards, which merges the digital and physical realms of collecting. 

Ho-hum, Texas Wesleyan is a table tennis national champion again. The coed Rams defeated Rutgers, UCLA and last year’s national champion, California, to take the title. In men's doubles, the Rams secured bronze with two pairs reaching the semifinals. In singles, the Rams had six of the top 16 finishers. 

Believe it or not: The Rolling Stones have seemingly released a new single under a mysterious pseudonym.

Daily digit: More babies are now born to parents over 40 than under 20 in the U.S. The nation’s fertility rate just hit another record low as more young people delay, or skip, starting a family.

Significant stat: Meta’s net ad revenues are expected to reach $243.46 billion in 2026, surpassing Google's projected $239.54 billion, according to eMarketer. Read more.

Snippets:

• A 2023 Title IX complaint against TCU is re-visited; group posts numbers showing spending disparity in women’s sports.

• Happy 100th birthday, American Airlines. Your 1979 arrival to D-FW has been a gift that keeps on giving.

• Here are the 10 most expensive-to-build data centers in U.S. and China. Only one is in Texas and it is No. 1. 

• District Judge temporarily allows women, minority-owned businesses to qualify for Texas HUB Program again, which state had dropped. 

• Arlington releases its fourth quarter 2025 development profile. 

Announcements:

• Fort Worth: Hires Brianna Brown as Assistant Economic Development Director. 

• Storehouse Community Center: Adds Katy Cooney as Volunteer & Development Coordinator. 

• Schwarz Hanson: Hires Julia Schrank as Marketing Lead in Fort Worth and Aris Cantu as Business Development Lead in Dallas. 

• Hillwood Investment Properties: Hires Melissa Cordoba as Marketing Coordinator. 

• PMG: Promotes Blakley Pate to Client Analyst III. 

• Post L Group: Adds Ryan Sanderson as Drywall Estimator. 

• First United Bank: Greg Carter, Senior Talent Acquisition, is leaving Friday.

• Huntington National Bank: Hires Rezon Latifi as Vice President-Senior Relationship Manager.

• Dallas Wings: Select Azzi Fudd of the University of Connecticut with first pick in Women's NBA draft. She joins former UConn teammate Paige Bueckers, last year's No. 1 pick. 

• Detroit Lions: Hire TCU graduating student Sam Haskell as Football Communications Associate. 

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