Mark Wahlberg has built and backed a long list of companies throughout his career, spanning apparel, nutrition, media, and fitness. Yet, as he prepares to open a massive new athletic club this December, the actor and entrepreneur says he is experiencing a level of professional excitement unlike anything he has felt before. This upcoming venture is also steering him directly into a lucrative, fast-growing segment of the market that continues to attract heavy venture capital: pricey, diagnostics-heavy wellness and longevity.
Speaking at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco, Wahlberg revealed that the first Municipal Gym is scheduled to open its doors in December. Spanning 32,000 square feet just outside Las Vegas, the club is designed to be much more than a traditional weight room. It features advanced diagnostic and recovery amenities, including blood work services, epigenetic testing, specialized recovery gear, compression therapy, and cold plunges. It will even house a cafe serving healthy options like protein muffins. Crucially, Wahlberg is positioning the facility as an accessible, affordable alternative to the exclusive longevity clubs currently dominating the high end of the market, which often charge tens of thousands of dollars a year for similar services.
This ambitious launch represents the second major phase of a business strategy that originated seven years ago with the debut of a casual sportswear brand.
The clothing line, Municipal, officially launched during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020—a timing that Wahlberg readily and humorously admits was far from ideal. Launching a clothing brand during a period when prominent retailers from J.Crew to Brooks Brothers were filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy presented immense challenges.
The brand itself grew organically out of the frustrations Wahlberg experienced while serving as a celebrity fitness spokesperson over the years. Having collaborated with various athletic brands and turned down numerous offers to act as a brand ambassador, he noticed a recurring pattern. Every company seemed to have the exact same playbook. According to Wahlberg, everybody simply wanted to sell T-shirts and sneakers. He wanted to have a much broader, more meaningful impact on people’s overall lives.
By a broader impact, he meant influencing what people eat, the supplements they take, how they train, and how they recover. Clothing was simply intended to be the foundation. The strategy was to start in the apparel space and build outward from there. Wahlberg maintains that he only commits his time and capital to projects that he is deeply passionate about and that serve as a direct extension of his personal identity.
Even outside the unprecedented disruptions of a global pandemic, the apparel industry is notoriously cutthroat, plagued by recurring supply chain and quality-control challenges that routinely impact major players like Lululemon. However, Wahlberg remains unfazed by these industry hurdles, viewing the upcoming gym as a natural complement to his overarching vision for the brand. He believed that physical brick-and-mortar locations could be exceptionally good for the Municipal brand, largely because they provide customers with a physical space to touch and feel the clothing before making a purchase. Furthermore, he noted that exercise and physical conditioning remain an essential, foundational part of people’s daily lives.
Across the broader wellness landscape, many companies have remained laser-focused exclusively on affluent clientele. For instance, Fountain Life, a longevity company co-founded by Tony Robbins, raised $18 million to expand its network of diagnostic centers for wealthy clients, with full annual memberships reportedly running around $21,500. Similarly, The Estate, another venture co-founded by Robbins and hospitality executive Sam Nazarian, has been mapping out plans to charge up to $35,000 for memberships to its luxury wellness centers. Major fitness brands like Equinox have also built substantial waitlists for a $36,000 longevity add-on package designed to sit on top of a traditional gym membership.
Wahlberg asserts that Municipal is targeting that exact same luxury tier of health, diagnostics, and longevity services, but at a fraction of the cost. Arguing that his venture offers superior price points alongside more tangible results, he offered a concrete example: for $99, members will receive three rounds of comprehensive blood work and an hour-long consultation with an attending physician to identify potential physiological predispositions. Access to targeted supplements and hormone therapy will also be readily available on-site.
When asked whether the new gyms will function primarily as storefronts for his other business ventures, such as his established protein and nutrition supplement brand, Wahlberg answered that it is somewhat of a hybrid model. What he is truly constructing, he explained, is a comprehensive health and wellness ecosystem that provides everything a member needs from start to finish.
While he stopped short of sharing specific numerical targets for his future expansion plans, he described the overall growth strategy as aggressive. He noted that landlords and developers who toured the flagship Las Vegas site have already stepped forward with offers for premier, AAA locations on highly favorable terms, complete with substantial tenant-improvement allowances to help finance the necessary build-outs.
Wahlberg’s previous major venture into the fitness club industry might have easily deterred a less resilient entrepreneur. Discussing his deep involvement with the fitness franchise F45 back in 2019—a journey prominently featured in his HBO reality series "Wahl Street"—he responded with trademark humor when reminded of the tumultuous timing just ahead of the pandemic. He had initially invested in the company, famous for its intense 45-minute circuit training classes, at a valuation of $450 million. The company ultimately went public in 2021, only to be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange in 2023 following a severe collapse in its share price. Wahlberg acknowledges that the challenging experience taught him valuable business lessons.
His primary takeaway from the F45 chapter was the critical importance of aligning himself strictly with partners who share his exact operational approach and philosophy. Reflecting on fitness models, he noted that he always believed a traditional big-box gym model offered greater long-term stability. While F45 classes cater effectively to individuals who are short on time, Wahlberg envisions members spending hours utilizing the comprehensive facilities at Municipal. He expressed bafflement at the common gym industry business model that relies heavily on signing up members who rarely actually show up, stating plainly that he cannot understand that philosophy.
The choice of the name Municipal holds deep personal significance for Wahlberg, who grew up in modest circumstances in Boston as one of nine children, spending his youth playing sports on public basketball courts and golf courses. He often emphasizes the invaluable life lessons learned on the asphalt, including how to win, how to lose, how to compete, and how to pick yourself back up after a setback.
Wahlberg has never attempted to conceal his difficult upbringing, which included running afoul of the law as a teenager and serving a prison sentence before turning his life around. Reflecting backstage at Disrupt, surrounded by longtime friends and business associates—echoing the real-life dynamic that inspired the hit television series "Entourage"—he credited key mentors for his rehabilitation. Among them was Father Jim Flavin, a Boston-area parish priest who has remained a guiding presence in Wahlberg’s life since he was 13 years old.
He hopes to infuse the Municipal gyms with that exact spirit of resilience, community, and mutual support. Describing the environment he wants to create, he emphasized a place where people can work, have fun, support one another, build community, and challenge themselves to become better versions of themselves. He acknowledges that the mission is deeply personal, stemming from his journey from having next to nothing to achieving extraordinary professional success. He frequently reminds himself of the potential to inspire other individuals growing up in similar environments, particularly inner-city kids and at-risk youth, demonstrating that challenging circumstances can be overcome through sustained hard work and dedication.
At 55 years old, Wahlberg notes that his personal goals have evolved significantly. While his younger years were heavily defined by aesthetics and looking good, his current daily priority is simple: waking up feeling good and ready to conquer all the responsibilities and plans he has lined up for the day.
With his professional plate exceedingly full, balancing the upcoming gym launch, a prominent acting role portraying baseball legend Pete Rose, and supporting his daughter’s competitive equestrian career, Wahlberg’s schedule is packed. He is so eager for the Las Vegas gym to open that observing the final stages of construction feels agonizingly slow, likening the experience to literally watching paint dry. When asked if he is currently searching for his next major business venture, he shrugged off the idea, confirming that he is not actively hunting for new projects. However, true to his entrepreneurial nature, he quickly added that if an extraordinary opportunity were to present itself, he certainly would not turn it down.