Fitness’ Balancing Act

Congress has proposed a recovery bill aimed at aiding the floundering gym industry. At least one estimate suggests the U.S. fitness industry has lost $15.6 billion and 480,000 jobs due to the pandemic. 

To help the industry recover, legislators have proposed a $30 billion bill, with gyms eligible for up to $10 million if it becomes a law. While the standalone fitness recovery bill is unlikely to pass, it could be part of a broader stimulus package if Congress chooses to inject the economy with fresh money again.

As gyms have struggled, Peloton continues to climb — last month reporting a 172% year-over-year increase in sales during its fiscal fourth quarter. Meanwhile, other at-home workout platforms have received an influx of investments, with JAXJOX and Future Fit App the latest to announce significant fundraises.

Recent Fitness Fundraises:

• Swift — $450 million
• ICON Health & Fitness — $200 million
• Tonal — $110 million
• Future Fit App — $24 million
• JAXJOX — $10 million

Netflix will report its fiscal third quarter earnings tomorrow — a quarter that included the platform’s U.S. release of “The Last Dance.” A partner in the Emmy Award-winning documentary with ESPN, Netflix was the international distribution platform for the series when it debuted in April. 

In July, “The Last Dance” became available on Netflix in the U.S. after averaging 5.648 million viewers across its five-week, 10-episode ESPN debut. At the time, it was the top-watched program across TV since sports had stopped in March.

During Netflix’s last quarterly earnings report, the platform said the Jordan doc garnered 23.8 million international “samples” in its first month.

“Netflix of Sports” IPO’d This Month

FuboTV made its public debut on the stock market this month, raising $183 million in its IPO on Oct. 7, valuing the sports streaming platform at $620.2 million. 

A paintball empire is going bankrupt. Quebec-based G.I. Sportz and affiliate Tippmann Sports have “no ability to repay” $29 million of debt, according to Bloomberg. A court-appointed receiver is expected to sell the businesses.

G.I Sportz, which says it is the largest global manufacturer and distributor of paintball-related products, racked up more than $45 million in losses since the end of 2018. That was only exacerbated in 2020, as many indoor paintball facilities were closed due to COVID-19.

Paintball rose in prominence in the early 2000s, gaining airtime on ESPN networks while more than 5.5 million people participated in the sport nationwide in 2007, according to SIFA. However, that popularity has slid since — there were just 2.9 million participants in 2019. 

Penn National Gaming’s Barstool Sportsbook grabbed 7% of another record-setting month in Pennsylvania sports betting. In September, Pennsylvania broke its previous record — set in August — by 26.8% with $462.8 million in wagers. 

Despite launching on Sept. 18, Barstool Sportsbook handled the fourth-most money by a sportsbook operator in Pennsylvania, taking $32.3 million in bets. Penn National shares gained more than 6% last week. The company plans to have the sportsbook app active in every legal betting state by the end of 2021, starting with Michigan next month.

States are topping their August records as the already-busy sports schedule welcomed the sports betting king last month: the NFL.

September Records:

• New Jersey — $748.6 million (all-time record for any state)
• Indiana — $207.5 million
• Illinois —$139.8 million
• Colorado — $128.6 million
• West Virginia — $76.9 million
• Iowa —  $72.4 million
• Michigan — $33.5 million
• Oregon — $26.2 million
• Washington, D.C. —$3.3 million