• 817 BIZ
  • Posts
  • 🏈Chiefs beat 49ers in OT thriller; All the Loews are highs in Arlington

🏈Chiefs beat 49ers in OT thriller; All the Loews are highs in Arlington

Plus: 🎵Disney+ swiftly buys Taylor's tour; Army re-boot affects Bell, Lockheed

Welcome to 817 Biz, the newsletter about business in the western half of D-FW. New here? Sign up.

Quarterback Patrick Mahomes, a Most Valuable Player for the third time, threw a 3-yard TD pass to Mercole Hardman Jr. in overtime to lead the Kansas City Chiefs to a 25-22 victory over the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII. The Chiefs repeated as champions, the first time since the New England Patriots 20 years ago. The Chiefs also had defeated the 49ers in the 2020 Super Bowl. The fact the game was in overtime meant no extra point was needed. Yet, that non-point was crucial to bettors because the over/under line for the game was 47.5 points.

Tomorrow, the highly anticipated Loews Arlington Hotel will open with 888 rooms and suites and 200,000 square feet of indoor meeting space. Situated near Globe Life Field and AT&T Stadium, the Entertainment District development is part of the second phase of Texas Live, a partnership of The Cordish Cos., the City of Arlington and the Texas Rangers. Opening at the same time are several food and beverage destinations:

  • Italian eatery Farena is 3,840 square feet and offers dishes such as Neapolitan-style pizza and house-made pasta.

  • The Bar, a lobby bar spanning 1,658 square feet.

  • Railbird, a 1,000-square-foot coffee shop and market.

$2 billion is already spent and $5 billion is withdrawn as the U.S. Army drops the FARA (Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft) program, instead opting for drones. Bell Helicopter, Lockheed Martin and Sikorsky are affected. 

Drone maker SZ DJI Technology Co. and helicopter manufacturer Bell Textron Inc. are working on a settlement over patent infringement allegations concerning avionics software, according to a court filing. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas granted the stay until April 5 as the companies continue their discussions. SZ DJI sued Bell Textron and its Canadian unit in July. 

American Airlines seeks to move all bookings to online. AA Chief Commercial Officer, Vasu Raja, made clear the airline’s plans – “We sell our product through the internet.” American appears to be making great progress toward its goal, with 80% of fourth-quarter bookings coming through the airlines’ website, app, or via new distribution capability. Compared to results from 2019, the airline is up in revenue (15%) and down in selling expenses (8%- 9%).

The Justin Sports Medicine Team (JST) was busy delivering care during the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo. After 25 rodeo performances in 23 days, JST had evaluated 281 professional rodeo athletes, applied more than 1,200 rolls of athletic tape, and had 651 unique treatments. The JST services and supplies were provided free by Justin Boots.

Disney+ has scored the rights to stream Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour (Taylor’s Version). This version debuts March 15 and includes the song “Cardigan” and four additional acoustic songs. Multiple reports said Disney+ is paying Swift $75 million. Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour earned $260 million in theaters.

Green Courte Partners, a private equity real estate investment firm, has acquired a 40-acre industrial outdoor storage property at 5301 Wilbarger in southeast Fort Worth. The company said it intends to operate the property as managed truck storage, led by Curley Hall. The seller was TH Logistics Fund I, a joint venture between Timber Hill Group and Champion Realty Advisors of Chicago.

The University of North Texas Health Science Center has received a $75,000 grant from Aetna, a CVS Health company, for a pilot program to educate primary care providers working with pediatric patients who have physical or developmental disabilities in under-resourced and rural communities. It is a year-long program and will employ tele-mentoring. 

Trinity Railway Express (TRE), the commuter rail service between Fort Worth and Dallas, will close its Richland Hills Station after the end of service this Saturday. Next Monday, a new Trinity Lakes Station station will open at 1539 Central Park Dr, Hurst. 

Notable & quotable: “The pessimists get to be right and the optimists get to be rich.”

—Shaan Puri, investor, entrepreneur and creator

A Fort Worth business scored at Super Bowl LVIII. The Tara Wilson Agency is a boutique experiential marketing agency that connects brands with audiences. Sportswear company Nike, a long-time client, and partner retailer Hiibbit, hired the team to create three brand activations.

Super stats on last night’s Super Bowl LVIII:

  • Viewership of yesterday’s game was expected to top 118 million, meaning a 30-second $7M commercial yielded a cost per impression of just under 6 cents per viewer.

  • Legal wagers on the game were expected to top $1.5B across the 39 regulated U.S. markets. That's a fraction of the estimated wagered amount of $23.1B, which would be 44% higher than last year’s $16B.

  • Bud Light is banking on its 60-second Super Bowl ad to reverse a slump in sales. After the first two weeks of 2024, Bud Light sales were down 28.9% from the same period last year, while Modelo’s were up 15.1%, according to NielsenIQ data.

Elaine Paul has been elected to Sabre's Board of Directors, effective February 16. Zane Rowe and Rachel Gonzalez will retire at that time. Paul has been Chief Financial Officer of Lyft, Amazon Studios and Hulu.

People on the move:

  • Farmer Brothers: Promotes interim CEO John Moore to President and CEO.

  • Canoo: Adds Deborah Diaz and James Chen to its Board of Directors.

  • Swedish Wind & Utility Scale PV: Adds Beth Miletello as Director, US PPA Origination.

  • Tarleton State University: Names Dr. Tony Edwards Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership and Technology.

  • Westwood Professional Services: Hires Holly Gray-Moore as Director of Business Development.

  • Skidabrader: Names John Hunter Director of its newly-launched Aviation Services.

  • NTO Commercial: Names Joel Bolz Vice President.

  • Grace Hebert Curtis Architects: Adds Michael Hoffer as Principal.

Snippets:

  • Believe it or not: The odds of making two aces in one round are 67 million-to-1, according to the National Hole-in-One Registry. But don’t tell that to this 77-year-old in Scottsdale, AZ.

  • A GameStop tweet that was pulled has the Xbox and Microsoft Game Pass fandom in a frenzy. An announcement could come this week.

  • The Biden administration said it expects to invest more than $5 billion in semiconductor-related research, development, and workforce needs, to advance its goals of driving R&D.

  • Burt’s Bees has partnered with Hidden Valley Ranch to create lip balms inspired by chicken wing-related flavors, including Buffalo Sauce, Crunchy Celery, Fresh Carrot and Hidden Valley Ranch.

🏈🏈🏈

If you watched Super Bowl LVIII, did you watch it:

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.

Last poll results: National Pizza Day was Friday. We asked: Which is your favorite? Answers: Thin crust (66%), Deep dish (34%). 

🚨817 Biz is formatted for viewing on mobile devices - if this email doesn’t look right, click the link at top right. Some content links may expire after initial posting or be paywall protected.