Equinox’s SoulCycle is reaping the benefits of renewed interest in in-person fitness experiences.

“They are coming back in droves, which has been great,” SoulCycle CEO Evelyn Webster told Yahoo. “We’ve seen tears of joy. We’ve seen waitlists.”

Webster says over 50% of SoulCycle’s locations are now open after many were forced to close during the pandemic. SoulCycle’s closures led to $350 million in losses last year.

In May, the company said New York’s new membership sales had increased 55%. By then, all fitness centers nationwide had reached 83% of their January 2020 traffic levels. Planet Fitness, 24 Hour Fitness, and Orange Theory have seen a surge in attendance, too.

SoulCycle is doing its best to simultaneously compete in the connected fitness space, an industry expected to reach $60 billion in the next six years.

• It started selling $2,500 stationary bikes with a $40 per month Equinox+ subscription that lets you stream SoulCycle classes at home.
• Universal Music Group’s entire catalog was licensed to Equinox+, which powers SoulCycle’s consumer bike.

Peloton — which expects $4 billion in revenue this year — and several other competitors have made at-home fitness incredibly crowded, giving more reason to re-prioritize brick-and-mortar gyms.

Before the pandemic, Equinox made over $1 billion in revenue each year with membership dues starting at $2,200. SoulCycle does not offer memberships, only pay-as-you-go or bundled class prices.

The NFT market is as hot as ever, with non-fungible tokens collectively making $2.5 billion in total sales in the first half of 2021.

That figure shows explosive growth from the $13.7 million in sales over the same period last year. NFT sales grew to $81.1 million in the latter half of 2020, and then achieved exit velocity with NBA TopShot. 

• TopShot sales hit $505.8 million in the first quarter of 2021. Sales fell each month in Q2, when the platform totaled $207.9 million in revenue.
• Monthly sales on NFT platform OpenSea hit a new high of $150 million in June.
• Beeple, who holds the record for the largest NFT sale at $69 million, completed the launch of his new NFT platform WENEW by selling an NFT of Andy Murray’s 2013 Wimbledon victory for $177,777. 

Spurred by the success of TopShot, other leagues and teams are getting in on the action.

NBA TopShot maker Dapper Labs is launching a European soccer-focused NFT platform with Fantastec SWAP featuring Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, and Arsenal, among other teams. Fantastec SWAP now has over 2 million NFTs on its platform.

MLB launched its first NFT auction in partnership with Fanatics-backed Candy Digital on July 4. The auction, which commemorates Lou Gehrig’s 1939 “luckiest man” speech and will benefit ALS charities, ends Thursday.

Volkswagen is offloading the high-end Bugatti brand to its subsidiary Porsche, which will own 45% of the company, and electric luxury carmaker Rimac, which will own 55%. 

Bugatti, founded in 1909, ceased selling cars in the 1950s but was revived in 1987 and bought by VW in 1998. Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo is a known enthusiast of Bugatti, which sells certain models for over $10 million.

While Bugatti’s storied racing history is contained in the first half of the 20th century, Porsche competes in the GT series and the all-electric Formula E series, among others. In December, VW slimmed down its racing involvement to a small set of electric races.

Porsche, which is considering an IPO to fund its move into electric models, plans to leverage the technological innovations that could come out of the partnership.

• Rimac, founded in 2009, sells electric powertrain and battery technology, as well as unique vehicles like the Rimac Nevera, which sells for $2.4 million. 
• Earlier this year, Porsche raised its stake in Rimac to 24% at a valuation of $939.4 million. 
• Bugatti, whose signature Chiron model starts at $3 million, has generally lost money. Porsche sells many models at five-figure prices and has been consistently profitable.

Volkswagen reported total sales of $263.5 billion in fiscal 2020, an 11% year-over-year decrease, which the company attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic.

AT&T sold off its minority interest — about 7% — in the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs, Front Office Sports has learned.  

As a result, the Spurs are also on the hunt for a new naming rights sponsor for their home arena. It’s expected the venue will remain known as AT&T Center until the contract expires in fall 2022. 

With the Spurs valued at $1.85 billion, it’s estimated that AT&T made about $125 million from its original investment in the Spurs more than two decades ago. The chunk of the team held by AT&T was part of the 30% stake in the franchise that investment firm Sixth Street and tech billionaire Michael Dell purchased last month. 

“This sale is a result of the ongoing strategic review of our balance sheet and assets to identify opportunities for monetization,” Fletcher Cook, VP of corporate communications for AT&T, said in an email to FOS.

It’s been a big year for sports arena naming rights: 

• In March, the Miami Heat landed a 19-year deal with crypto company FTX that pays about $7 million per year. 
• Highmark Health became the stadium sponsor for the Buffalo Bills in a deal worth $6 million annually. 
• Caesars agreed to a 20-year, $200 million deal for the Superdome, home of the New Orleans Saints.

At around $2 million per year, AT&T’s naming rights agreement with the Spurs was one of the cheapest in pro sports — even for a franchise in one of the smaller U.S. markets.