When Tom Brady made headlines last month, it didnt have anything to do with his prowess on the football field. Instead, it was all about how he ended his mattress sponsorship with Simmons Beautyrest Black in favor for one with the lesser known online mattress startup Molecule.
This flurry of news got me thinking about some larger questions around the topic:Why have professional athletes been sponsored by mattress companies since when? Is it really a way to get better sleep? What does this all mean about athletes‘ sleep?
Yes, Sponsorships Of Sleep Are A Thing
The U.S. mattress market is an estimated billion industry. In order to break through the noise (and not go bankrupt), bedding brands need to differentiate themselves, whether by utilizing new sleep technologies, coming up with creative ad strategies, leaning on sleep science – or getting some spokespeople.
Molecule is not the only company looking for sponsorships. Tom Brady is not the only athlete to have partnered with a bedding brand.Over the past few years, mattress companies have steadily (and significantly) expanded their sponsorship portfolios. Tempurpedic was one of the first to embrace the trend, forming a partnership for three years with the entire PGA Tour in 2014. Airweave joined the U.S. in a series of deals. Winter Olympic Team,ReST sponsored CrossFit star Kari Pearce, and Bear Mattress created a whole team of athletes.
Jason Fitzgerald, a Bear Mattress-sponsored runner and running coach, explained to me that a lot of elite athletes are now aware of sponsorship opportunities beyond the major shoe brands. There is more to than simply the performance side of things – like recovery and sleep.
The Role Of Sleep Science
This sponsorship list appears to be growing in parallel to the expansion of sleep science itself. Until a few years ago, there were only two ways to monitor sleep hygiene: polysomnography (expensive lab equipment that placed participants in unfamiliar locations) or self-reported surveys, which can be vulnerable to bias. With the rise of wearable tech like the Fitbit, the sleep science market has been opened up to the public. We now have new ways to measure and track our sleep. It was a gateway to other sleep devices like smart alarms, smart beds and recovery pajamas.
The rise of sleep science made athletic performance a central part of the story.Professional athletes were among the first to enter this new field. They wanted to improve their performance by getting more sleep, and they used sleep coaches to do so.
Earlier this year, research out of the David Geffen School of Medicine made the case forsleep coaching, saying it helped to enhance exercise performance. A surge of subsequent studies discoveredthat athletes who worked with a sleep coach showed greater improvements in VO2max, lactate threshold, body composition, and heart-rate variability.
I tend to look at sleep as similar to nutrition, Dr. Geier, orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist, pointed out over the phone. Proper nutrition is essential for you to not only recover from your training or games, but also to become stronger.Good sleep is essential for growth and recovery. Professional athletes have realized that sleep isn’t a compromise for hard work – it is as important as training.
While Geiger isnt an expert in athletic sleep sponsorship – if such a title even exists – he did acknowledge that sleep is deeply personal; therefore, he wasnt surprised to hear about the partnerships between brands and individual athletes.Pro-athletes are way more in tune with their sleep habits than they have been in the past, he added. I see why these sponsorships are growing.
Tom Brady is not an exception. Russell Wilson, the Seattle Seahawks quarterback, is also working with Molecule. Michael Phelps is sponsored byLeesa. Denver Mattress has partnered with the wholeBroncos Team and Lebron James now has his own line bedroom furniture thanks to American Signature.
As for Fitzgerald, he confirms that as a society, were learning more about sleep, which in turn is influencing how our lifestyle products are developed and marketed.The science is now being used to influence the products. And now, elite are becoming more involved with these recovery brands.
Fitzgerald’s journey to partnering with a recovery company began when he found Bear Mattress. He told me that he firstbecame interested in the product after learning it was designed specifically for athletes. Bear mattresses useCelliant as their covers. This material has been shown to aid in recovery and convert body heat into infraredlight, which reportedly improves blood circulation for better temperature regulation.
I love my Bear mattress; I look forward to going to bed every night, Fitzgerland said.
This, for me, was a no-brainer kind of a partnership.
Bradys New Bed
Let’s get back to Brady. Molecule is a brand new mattress that was created with sports-oriented sleepers in mind. The company claims its a first-of-its-kind sleep system that regulates body temperature in order to achieve quality, Stage 3 non-REM sleep.
Channing Chor, EVP Business Development, was interested in explaining how the sponsorship program at Mattress Company works.
Chor explained that we were first looking for an organic fit and someone who is interested in optimizing recovery. He went on to explain that once an athlete is interested in becoming a sponsor, they test the Molecule mattress out for a few weeks or even a few months before deciding if they want to partner.
They really need to believe in it before signing on, he added.
Chor also pointed out that the company’s athletes believe in the product even though it doesnt have enough capital to pay the usual rate for sponsorship. Were a startup we cant pay folks like Tom Brady what theyre used to. His signing with us is testament to the products we were creating.
The Bedroom Bottom Line
While Brady may have made headlines, its evident hes far from the only athlete whos getting in bed with a brand. It is now common for hundreds of elite athletes to partner with bedding and lifestyle brands. This not only reinforces the benefits of sponsorships, but also shows that recovery and rest are important parts of an athlete’s career.
Its a healthy and helpful ecosystem, Fitzgerald declares. They will be able perform better if they pay more attention to recovery and sleep the 23 hours remaining in a day.
In this vein, it makes sense that athletes would partner with mattresses while sleep brands continue to create recovery-driven products that the pros would want to work with. You never know: A quality mattress could make you a Hall of Fame quarterback.
