Mark Wahlberg wants to take on the longevity-startup crowd with an affordable gym concept
Mark Wahlberg, who once sank money into a gym chain that got kicked off the NYSE, is now building his own, and he promises you’ll get a cold plunge, a blood panel and a protein muffin without needing a trust fund.
Key points
- Mark Wahlberg will open the first Municipal Gym in December outside Las Vegas.
- The 32,000-square-foot club offers blood work, epigenetic testing and recovery gear.
- Wahlberg pitches it as an affordable alternative to longevity clubs charging tens of thousands yearly.
Mark Wahlberg plans to open the first Municipal Gym in December, a 32,000-square-foot club outside Las Vegas, he said Thursday at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco. The gym will offer blood work, epigenetic testing, recovery gear, compression therapy, cold plunges and a café serving protein muffins, among other things.
Wahlberg is pitching the club as an affordable alternative to longevity-focused wellness centers that charge tens of thousands of dollars a year for similar services. He said the concept grew out of Municipal, the sportswear line he launched during COVID, which he volunteered was not a good idea given the timing.
Pricing and offerings
Wahlberg said Municipal aims for the same luxury tier as competitors but at a much lower cost. For $99, he said as an example, members will receive three rounds of blood work and an hour with a doctor to flag predispositions. Supplements and hormone therapy are also available.
He described what he is building as a health and wellness ecosystem with everything there, soup to nuts. Asked whether the gyms will double as storefronts for his other products, including a supplements brand, he said kind of.
We have a better price point than our competitors, and we’re going to get far more results
— Mark Wahlberg
Growth plans and lessons
Wahlberg did not give a number for how many gyms he wants, but called the growth strategy aggressive. He said landlords and developers who toured the Las Vegas site have offered AAA locations at very favorable terms, with great tenant-improvement allowances.
He said he learned a lot from his earlier involvement with the fitness chain F45, which went public in 2021 and was delisted from the NYSE in 2023 after its stock collapsed. His biggest takeaway, he said, was making sure he is involved with people who share his approach. He added that he always thought big box was the better model and wants members to hang around Municipal for hours.
