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12/22/2024 01:36:59 pm

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NFL Bans Beats Headphones after Penning Contract with Rival Bose

Beats headphones

NFL players who typically wear Beats headphones before the game will be forced to take them off when around TV cameras, following a signed contract between another headphone maker, Bose, and the football league.

The contract bans all Beats headphones from any form of media created by the NFL, including pre-game training sessions and after-game interviews. Players will not be able to wear the headphones until 90 minutes after the play has finished.

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Beats has been advertising their headphones with various musicians and athletes, including 49ers Quarter-Back Colin Kaepernick, who was in a 2013 commercial, showing the noise cancellation feature on Beats by Dre.

Bose will try and add their own headphones into the game, to indirectly advertise them to the NFL audience. There is no certainty this tactic will be successful. Microsoft recently replaced all iPads with Surface tablets, but that has not led to an increase in sales.

There is a good reason to specifically target Beats, as they account for 61 percent of premium headphones sales, past the $100 mark. The recent influx of Apple dollars, $3 billion to be exact, will help Beats gain even more advertising deals, further promoting the brand.

Bose is not the first company to target Beats in sports. Sony penned a deal with FIFA, making sure 32 countries did not see any Beats on TV. Sony's headphone market share only accounts for two percent, and the campaign against Beats did not stop its growth.

It is not certain if Bose will make any individual deals with players or clubs, making their own headphones show up at events. Bose has a great reputation for quality assurance, alongside other old timers like Sennheiser and Pioneer, but just cannot break it into the design market like Beats by Dre.

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