NFL draft boost, AT&T, Southwest Airlines, D-FW housing market: Thursday's Business Briefing

Your lunchtime look at D-FW business [Your lunchtime look at D-FW business] April 26,  2018 🔎 Prefer the online view? It's [here](. Follow us on Twitter [@DMNBiz](. A view inside of AT&T Stadium as preparations continue for the 2018 National Football League draft at the venue in Arlington. (Andy Jacobsohn/The Dallas Morning News) The Big Story NFL draft weekend at AT&T Stadium expected to boost local businesses If the Super Bowl, the NFL's annual high-dollar extravaganza, is largely attractive to the expense-account crowd, think of the NFL draft, coming this weekend to Arlington, as an event for the everyday fan. [The 2018 NFL Draft comes to AT&T Stadium on Thursday, Friday and Saturday]( — the first NFL draft to be held in a stadium. That will allow up to 24,000 select fans to be inside, close to the action, while thousands more participate in free events set up in three of the stadium's parking lots. And the broad fan appeal means hotels at varying price points will have more chances to put heads in beds. -[Karen Robinson-Jacobs]( And: [Everything you need to know about attending the NFL draft, NFL Draft Experience at AT&T Stadium]( Also: [Torchy's Tacos, Fletcher's Corny Dogs and other Texas faves expected to sell food at NFL Draft Experience]( Advertisement The Latest - Airlines: [Southwest Airlines]( has plans for flights to four Hawaiian Airports. - Technology: [Dallas Entrepreneur Center]( to get new leader, new home in Oak Lawn. - Real estate: [London tech firm]( moves North American HQ from Canada to North Texas. - Commentary: [Congress]( must stop throwing up hurdles to foreign companies investing in the U.S. - Auto: [Which cars made the cut](? Ford promises to shed most of its North American vehicle lineup. (Louis DeLuca / Staff Photographer) real estate Don't look now, but D-FW's hot home market has probably peaked If you just got your property tax appraisal, news that Dallas-area home prices are growing at the slowest rate in six years may not add up. My tax appraisal landed in my mailbox like a bomb, notifying me that the taxman has added another $38,000 to the assumed value of my almost century old shack in East Dallas. [In the last five years, the tax appraisal on my house has gone up almost 70 percent]( -- an even bigger jump than the North Texas area average sales price increase of about 55 percent since 2013. Those huge home price gains in North Texas may be waning. -[Steve Brown]( And: [D-FW has the tightest U.S. supply of homes for first-timers]( Also: [D-FW tops the country for housing starts in first quarter]( Meanwhile: [New industrial project set for DFW Airport site]( Plus: [Find more on D-FW real estate]( Elsewhere in Texas - Austin: More changes are taking place on Austin’s trendy [South Congress Avenue](. (Austin American-Statesman) - Houston: [City Council]( unanimously backs plan to build homes in flood plain. (Houston Chronicle) - San Antonio: [A European company]( touts new luxury San Antonio home on sale for $2.95 million. (San Antonio Express-News) - Austin: Once disruptors, [ride-hailing firms]( now a ‘major player’ at Austin airport. (512Tech) - Houston: [A wonkish technical conference]( became energy industry’s biggest spectacle. (Houston Chronicle) A Southwest Airlines flight takes off at Dallas Love Field Airport on April 23, 2018. (Nathan Hunsinger/The Dallas Morning News) airlines Southwest Airlines ticket sales slow after fatal accident Southwest Airlines’ ticket sales slowed in the week after an April 17 engine failure led to the first passenger death in its history, the company said Thursday. [Southwest said the accident involving Flight 1380 has led to “softness in bookings,”]( leading to lower projected revenues in the second quarter. The airline told investors in a Thursday regulatory filing it expects its revenue per available seat mile, a proxy for the amount earned selling tickets, to decline one to three percent year over year in the second quarter, with one to two percentage points due to the slowdown after the Flight 1380 accident. -[Conor Shine]( Plus: [Find more airlines news that affects North Texas]( Randall Stephenson, AT&T CEO (Getty Images) technology AT&T pushes ahead with entertainment growth while waiting decision As Dallas-based AT&T awaits a court decision that will shape its future, the company has pushed ahead with new offerings and reached 1.5 million customers with its streaming service DirecTV Now. [The Dallas-based telecom released the latest subscriber count in a Wednesday earnings call]( during an especially high-stakes time in the company's history. DirecTV Now has helped to offset the decline of AT&T's traditional TV business. It lost 187,000 cable and satellite customers, but gained 312,000 DirecTV Now customers in the first quarter. The streaming service has a cable-like lineup of channels, including live sports and news, but without a contract or cable box. The streaming service appears poised to surpass the subscriber count of Dish's Sling TV, which launched in 2015. Dish reported that Sling TV had about 2.2 subscribers at the end of 2017. DirecTV Now has attracted 1.5 million subscribers since its launch in Dec. 2016. -[Melissa Repko]( Plus: [Find more on AT&T]( Onboarding Who is getting hired and promoted - OMNITRACS named Kent Norton chief technology officer and Greg Nelson chief commercial officer. - PARKER UNIVERSITY named Dr. Jayne Moschella provost and chief academic officer. - POLSINELLI named Joyce Mazero shareholder. - RYAN COS. US Inc. named Paul Rowsey vice president of real estate development. - SDB CONTRACTING SERVICES named Jason Gillespie vice president of Texas operations. - SLACK & DAVIS named Ladd Sanger managing partner and changed the company name to Slack Davis Sanger. Plus: [Find more executive changes]( Follow DFW stocks: [See how top North Texas stocks performed](, as well as the oil and gas markets and major stock exchanges. DFW Top 100 Places to Work 2017: The Dallas Morning News and Workplace Dynamics partner each year to feature the [Top 100 workplaces](, based on ratings by the people who work at them. Advertisement 👋  That's all for today! For up-to-the-minute business news and analysis, check out [DallasNews.com/Business](. 💖 Share the love: If you like this newsletter, please forward this email to a friend and [check out our other newsletters here](. 📧 Do you have feedback on this newsletter? Send your thoughts, questions, praise and corrections to our Business Editor Paul O'Donnell at [podonnell@dallasnews.com](mailto:podonnell@dallasnews.com?subject=Newsletter%20Feedback). STAY CONNECTED WITH US  [Facebook]( [Instagram]( [Twitter]( [LinkedIn]( [Tumblr]( [Google]( [Reddit](  [OTHER NEWSLETTERS]( [SUBSCRIPTION OPTIONS]( [Unsubscribe](  |  [Manage Preferences](  |  [Privacy Policy](  |  [Contact](  |  [Advertise]( You received this message because you signed up for this Dallas Morning News newsletter or it was forwarded to you. Copyright 2018 - [The Dallas Morning News]( | [1954 Commerce St., Dallas, TX 75201](#)