NFL bans players from wearing Beats headphones on camera
It's quite common to see NFL players on the bench or in the locker room wearing Beats headphones, but a new marketing deal the league inked with Bose will prevent players from doing that in the future.
The ban prevents players or coaches from wearing anything but Bose headphones during televised interviews, including interviews conducted during pre-season training camps or practice sessions. On game day, the ban stars before the opening kickoff through 90 minutes after play has ended.
Beats, now owned by Apple, isn't happy. The company issued a statement saying "Over the last few years athletes have written Beats into their DNA as part of the pre-game ritual. Music can have a significant positive effect on an athlete's focus and mental preparedness and has become as important to performance as any other piece of equipment."
This isn't the first time that Beats headphones have received the axe for sporting events. During the month-long World Cup soccer tournament, Sony -- one of the sponsors of the event -- made sure through FIFA that Beats products were banned during media briefings and matches.
Why is Beats being singled out? The company's success. Beats by Dre accounts for 61 percent of the premium (>US$100) headphone market in the U.S., while Bose has just 22 percent and Sony a tiny 2 percent. Bose and the NFL are essentially killing the "free" advertising that Beats gets every time an athlete is seen on-camera with its headphones.
Whether or not the league ban will extend to advertisements for Beats by players like San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick (seen above in a 2013 Beats by Dre ad) is unknown.
