Mark Wahlberg wants to take on the longevity-startup crowd with an affordable gym concept

Speaking in front of an attentive audience at the TechCrunch Disrupt event in San Francisco, Wahlberg revealed that the very first Municipal Gym is scheduled to open its doors in December. Spanning an impressive 32,000 square feet, the flagship club located just outside Las Vegas is designed to be much more than a traditional weight room. Instead, it offers an array of advanced health services, including comprehensive blood work, epigenetic testing, cutting-edge recovery gear, compression therapy, and cold plunges. It even features a dedicated café serving health-conscious fare like protein muffins. Crucially, Wahlberg is positioning the facility as an accessible, affordable alternative to exclusive longevity clubs that routinely demand tens of thousands of dollars in annual membership fees for a comparable suite of health optimization services.

This ambitious brick-and-mortar gym concept represents the natural evolution of a broader business strategy that initially took root seven years ago with the launch of a casual sportswear line. The apparel brand, Municipal, famously debuted during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020—a timing that Wahlberg readily acknowledges was far from ideal, arriving at a moment when traditional retail giants from J.Crew to Brooks Brothers were seeking Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The clothing brand itself grew organically out of Wahlberg’s long-standing frustration with the traditional celebrity endorsement model. Having previously partnered with various brands and turned down numerous requests to act as a brand ambassador, he noticed a recurring pattern across corporate boardrooms. Most companies simply wanted to leverage his fame to sell basic T-shirts and sneakers. For Wahlberg, however, the ambitions were far broader. He wanted to exert a more holistic, meaningful impact on people’s everyday lives, touching upon what they eat, the nutritional supplements they take, how they train, and how they recover from physical exertion. Apparel was merely intended to be the opening salvo. The mindset was to plant a flag in the clothing sector first and systematically build upward from there. Looking back on his entrepreneurial criteria, he explains that he only invests his time and capital into ventures where he feels a deep personal passion and views the project as a direct extension of his own identity and lifestyle.

Even putting aside the unprecedented disruptions of a global pandemic, the apparel industry remains notoriously unforgiving. Recent high-profile struggles, such as quality-control challenges faced by athletic wear giant Lululemon, underscore the daily volatility of the retail space. However, Wahlberg remains undeterred, viewing the upcoming gym concept as a vital anchor that naturally complements his overarching brand vision. Beyond the business logic, he recognized that physical retail spaces provide consumers with a tangible way to physically feel and touch clothing before making a purchase. More importantly, he notes that physical fitness and exercise constitute another foundational pillar of daily life for millions of people.

In recent years, the elite wellness and longevity market has experienced a surge of interest, with institutional players laser-focused almost exclusively on the ultra-wealthy. For instance, Fountain Life, a longevity enterprise co-located and co-founded by prominent figures including Tony Robbins, secured $18 million in venture funding to expand its diagnostic centers, where full annual subscriptions reportedly run upward of $21,500. Similarly, wellness ventures like The Estate—co-founded by Robbins and hospitality executive Sam Nazarian—have mapped out plans to charge staggering $35,000 memberships for their holistic centers. Meanwhile, major fitness mainstays like Equinox have established substantial waitlists for a $36,000 longevity add-on package designed to sit on top of a traditional gym membership.

By contrast, Municipal aims to deliver that very same elite tier of diagnostics and health optimization, but at a radically democratized price point. Asserting that the venture will offer vastly superior value, Wahlberg points out that members will receive three distinct rounds of comprehensive blood work alongside a full hour of consultation with an attending medical professional for a fraction of the cost—citing a modest example price of $99 to flag potential health predispositions. Furthermore, targeted nutritional supplements and hormone therapy services will be readily available on-site within the facility.

When pressed on whether the sprawling gyms will function primarily as storefronts for his affiliated enterprises—such as his separate line of nutritional supplements—Wahlberg describes the arrangement as a hybrid approach. What he envisions constructing is a comprehensive, end-to-end health and wellness ecosystem where members can find everything they need under a single roof, from nutrition to medical diagnostics.

While he refrains from locking down a definitive numerical target for total nationwide expansion, Wahlberg characterizes the broader growth strategy as aggressive. He notes that commercial landlords and real estate developers who toured the initial Las Vegas construction site have already stepped forward with offers for prime, AAA-rated locations accompanied by highly favorable lease terms and substantial tenant-improvement allowances to help subsidize the build-out costs.

Wahlberg’s journey into the fitness industry has not been without its cautionary tales. During his appearance, the conversation touched upon his previous high-profile involvement with the international fitness franchise F45, a tumultuous chapter documented extensively in his reality television series Wahl Street. Entering the company in 2019 at a staggering $450 million valuation, Wahlberg witnessed the brand go public in 2021 before experiencing a severe stock market collapse that ultimately led to its delisting from the New York Stock Exchange in 2023. Responding to the memory with characteristic humor about the unpredictable timing of the pandemic, Wahlberg emphasizes that the experience yielded invaluable lessons for his future entrepreneurial endeavors.

The primary takeaway from the F45 experience, according to Wahlberg, is the absolute necessity of aligning oneself strictly with business partners who share an identical operational philosophy and dedication. Furthermore, his strategic vision for Municipal reflects a firm preference for the traditional big-box gym model over streamlined boutique classes. While fast-paced, 45-minute group workouts cater well to individuals pressed for time, Wahlberg’s vision for Municipal encourages members to immerse themselves in the environment for hours at a time. Criticizing the common industry practice where fitness clubs rely heavily on a revenue model of signing up members who rarely step foot through the door, he notes that such a philosophy remains entirely alien to his own approach.

The deliberate choice of the name Municipal carries deep personal resonance for Wahlberg, who was raised in a large, financially struggling family of nine children in Boston, spending his youth honing his athletic skills on public neighborhood basketball courts and municipal golf courses. Reflecting on those formative years, he often notes the profound lessons imparted by the blacktop—teaching young people how to win, how to lose, how to compete, and, crucially, how to pick themselves up and try again.

Wahlberg has never concealed the rough edges of his youth, which included encounters with the juvenile justice system. Yet, he frequently credits pivotal mentors in his life with steering him away from a destructive path. Among them is Father Jim Flavin, a Boston-area parish priest who has maintained a steady presence in Wahlberg’s life since the actor was just thirteen years old, helping to effect a lasting turnaround that eventually paved the way for his Hollywood career and subsequent business success.

It is precisely this spirit of resilience and community that Wahlberg intends to infuse into the Municipal gym network. Describing the spaces not merely as places to grind through a workout, but as welcoming environments where members can have fun, support one another, and build a lasting sense of community, he emphasizes the deeply personal nature of the project. Having journeyed from modest beginnings to a position of immense professional and financial privilege, Wahlberg views his platform as an opportunity to inspire others, particularly inner-city kids and at-risk youth navigating similar hardships, proving that difficult circumstances can be overcome through sustained effort and hard work.

At 55 years of age, Wahlberg acknowledges that his personal health objectives have undergone a significant evolution. While his younger years were defined by aesthetic pursuits and looking a certain way, his current priorities center squarely on functional longevity and vitality. His primary daily goal is simply waking up feeling healthy, energized, and fully equipped to conquer the ambitious agenda he sets for himself each day.

Balancing his multifaceted professional life remains an ongoing juggling act. Between overseeing the rollout of the gym empire, preparing for a dramatic film role portraying baseball legend Pete Rose, and actively supporting his daughter’s burgeoning competitive equestrian career, Wahlberg’s schedule is exceptionally full. He admits to a degree of restless anticipation regarding the December opening of the flagship gym, joking that checking in on the ongoing construction phase feels painfully akin to watching paint dry. Asked whether he is actively scouting additional new ventures, he offers a pragmatic shrug, noting that he is certainly not out hunting for the next big thing. At the same time, true to his entrepreneurial spirit, he refuses to close any doors, concluding that if another extraordinary opportunity were to present itself, he would undoubtedly give it serious consideration.