Ahead of the new season, NFL teams are adding a new piece of equipment to their travel kits this year: Sleep masks.
Specifically, they are turning to Atlanta brand The Inactive Company, who will be supplying its patented sleep masks to nine professional football teams traveling overseas for games this year. Those teams, which include the Atlanta Falcons and the Miami Dolphins, will each receive 75 masks that support a “drug-free way to improve sleep, enhance performance, and support recovery during international travel.”
Hypepotamus readers will remember when The Inactive Company launched its Inactivators’ product early this year. Lori Oliver and Jill MacRae were executives at shapewear giant Spanx before launching The Inactive Company.
The two launched the new company because they could not find an ergonomic, travel-friendly, and comfortable sleep mask.
Building Products For Athletes
Oliver and MacRae first connected with the NFL through the NFLPA Driven Program, its Playmaker incubator program. While the Inactivators can be used by anyone looking to improve their sleep, the company has found a particularly strong audience within athletics.
“We conducted a three-week research study with the University of Georgia football team. Starting with a sleep presentation, Inactivators masks, and a pre-research questionnaire to assess sleep attitudes and behaviors. At the end of the study, players completed a post-study questionnaire. Eighty percent of players slept longer and better and wanted to continue using Inactivators. The CPT Labs test was a two-week study involving adults who slept fewer than seven hours per night. We found positive, statistically significant results, with participants experiencing less difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, and waking too early when using Inactivators. The sleep masks also helped these adults become more satisfied with their sleep. The Emory study, approved by the IRB (Internal Review Board), involved post-9/11 veterans who used Inactivators for two weeks, with one-third noticing immediate sleep improvements,” the co-founders told Hypepotamus.
“The Inactivators were designed for elite athletes, featuring patented Tru-dark technology for full light blocking, pressure-free eye zones to protect REM sleep, thermoregulation. This prevents overheating, self-adjusting straps, and an anatomical fit,” the company added. “With team permission, masks can be customized with team logos, highlighting their role as essential performance equipment.”
Sleep is “the ultimate performance enhancer” and can help improve reaction times and prevent injury, Oliver added. “But [athletes] struggle to prioritize it, especially with late-night device use and demanding schedules. Inactivators give them a simple, effective tool to achieve high-quality sleep, whether at home or on the road.”
Alongside Oliver and MacRae, the company is made up of designers, marketers, IT, PR, and manufacturing professionals. To date, The Inactive Company has scaled without taking on outside capital.