🔑Real estate listings up 30+%; Controversy at Gateway Church hurts tithes; Wicked problem for Wicked movie.

Netflix confirmed viewing figures for the fight between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson were 60 million households with another 6,000 bars/restaurants streaming the match. The live gate value “surpassed $18m” from approximately 70k at AT&T Stadium.  Paul won a unanimous 8-round decision and an estimated $40 million, double Tyson’s take. The broadcast was marred with complaints related to problems with buffering, pixelization, and crashing.

In a cease-and-desist letter sent Nov. 1 and obtained by NBC News, the Texas Funeral Service Commission said it discovered during an October inspection that the University of North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth had been “unlawfully conducting final dispositions of human remains using alkaline hydrolysis (water cremation)."

Southlake-based Gateway Church, already dealing with a class-action lawsuit from church members claiming financial fraud, has seen tithes drop between 35% and 40% and tells KERA it soon will make staff cuts.

The IRS announced that the amount individuals can contribute to their 401(k) plans has increased by $500 to $23,500 for 2025. There are inheritance levels and a lot more here.

NAIA-level Texas Wesleyan defeated Louisiana Christian, 63-42, to raise its per-game scoring to 59.9, the highest at any level of college football history. The Fort Worth-based Rams are 10-0.

Birtcher Anderson & Davis and Belay Investment Group have sold a 439,916-square-foot, eight-property, light industrial D-FW portfolio to Basis Industrial, which financed the purchase with a $138-million loan. Business parks in Haltom City and Fort Worth are included in the sale.

Big win for the Dallas Cowboys: Netflix, which brought the Tyson-Paul fight to JerryWorld, also has renewed America's Sweethearts: The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders for a second season.

A bullet struck the body of a Southwest Airlines plane preparing for departure Friday to Indianapolis from Dallas Love Field, forcing the cancellation of the flight. No injuries were reported.

D-FW to Mexico City landed at No. 7 on the Top 10 busiest international air travel routes to and from the U.S. with 221 flights monthly. Number 1 was Miami to Panama City with 242 flights per month.

October’s housing report from the Greater Fort Worth Association of Realtors shows that listings, inventory and days on market were all up substantially. Compared to the same month prior year:

• Active listings were up 35.9% in Fort Worth, and increased 30% in Tarrant County.

• October saw 3.7 months of inventory in Fort Worth and 3.5 months in Tarrant County, compared to 2.6 months in both areas in 2023.

• Fort Worth's days on the market were up 17 days, for a total of 55, and Tarrant County's increased 15 days, for a total of 53.

• Fort Worth median home prices fell slightly to $327,995, a 0.6% decline. Tarrant County’s median home price was $347,000 a 2.1% decline.

• Closed sales increased 6.8% in Fort Worth and were up 8.1% in Tarrant County.

Snippets:

• GM lays off another 1,000 employees as it continues re-organization and cost-cutting. 

• Retailers have locked up everything from pricy electronics to socks and underwear, but Walmart customers soon could be able to open security locks from their cellphones.

Amazon and SpaceX are in the Fifth Circuit Court today to argue separately that elements of the national board that protects workers’ unionizing rights are unconstitutional, according to Bloomberg Law.  The companies argue three elements violate the Constitution: a) removal protections enjoyed by board members; b) its adjudication of labor law claims absent a jury; and c) board members that authorize the agency to seek court injunctions in the same cases they will ultimately rule on.

The Texas Supreme Court ruled that a legislative subpoena cannot stop an execution. This is in regard to Republican and Democratic lawmakers who said Robert Roberson is innocent and used the novel maneuver to pause his execution at the last minute. Roberson was sentenced to death in 2003 for killing his 2-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis. He would be the first person in the United States to be executed over a conviction tied to “shaken baby syndrome."

In case you missed it - here are the most popular links from 817 Biz last week:

• Condé Nast Traveler selects the top 15 hotels in Texas. Tarrant County has three on the list, including No. 1.

• Which Texas university finished No. 4 overall and No. 1 in Texas in Wallet Hub's best college towns?

Bela Karolyi, a gymnastics coach who turned young women into champions and the United States into an international power, has died at 82. Karolyi and wife, Martha, trained multiple Olympic gold medalists, including Nadia Comaneci and Mary Lou Retton.

Unexpectedly Wicked: Mattel says it “deeply” regrets an error on the packaging of its “Wicked” movie-themed dolls that links buyers to a pornographic website instead of Universal Pictures’ WickedMovie.com page. 

Nothing to do with business: Attaching LED lights to the bottom of surfboards could help deter great white shark attacks, per a new study.

Significant stat: The share of adults suffering from diabetes doubled between 1990 and 2022, from 7% to 14%, according to a global study.

Announcements:

• Fort Worth: Hires Allison Docker as green space initiatives manager. 

• Nanoscope Therapeutics: Adds Sunil Gupta to its Board of Directors. Hires Peri Morris, Associate Director of Manufacturing; Samuel Pacilli, Director of Project Management; and Brett Kiedaisch, Associate Director of Analytical Development.

• Fort Worth: Adds Justin McLaughlin as Senior Management Analyst/Director of Operations with the Transportation & Public Works department. 

• Raymond James: Hires John Pardue as First Vice President Wealth Management.

• UNT Health Science Center Research & Innovation: Associate Vice President Thomas Cunningham is leaving for Texas A&M, and Robert McClain, AVP at HSC Next has been named interim leader.