Beats by Dre Headphones Banned by the NFL; Find Out Why

With the NFL inking a new deal with audio equipment company Bose, players and coaches are now banned from sporting or using any other headphone brands, including Beats which is widely used by league players, during interviews.

The terms of agreement of the sponsorship deal, according to recode.net, disallows the use of rival headphone manufacturers off the field. It added that the ban covers TV interviews made during preseason training, practice sessions and game day which will cover the start before the opening kickoff until the final whistle. This will also include postgame interviews conducted inside the locker room or on the podium.

"The restriction remains in place until 90 minutes after the play has ended," recode.net added.

What seems to be a brewing hot topic has got the NFL saying that this has already been part of their rules long time ago.

"The NFL has longstanding policies that prohibit branded exposure on-field or during interviews unless authorized by the league. These policies date back to the early 1990s and continue today. They are the NFL's policies - not one of the league's sponsors, Bose in this case.  Bose is not involved in the enforcement of our policies. This is true for others on-field," read the NFL statement which was quoted by Yahoo Sports.

This recent agreement in the NFL could spark concern on some players who are really known to patronize Beats headphones especially Seattle Seahawks' Russell Wilson and Richard Sherman and San Francisco 49ers' Colin Kaepernick who have deals with the headphone manufacturer.

In response to the issue, Beats by Dr. Dre stressed in a statement that their headphones have become an important part of the conditioning and ritual of the players before and after a game.

"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," it added.

Yahoo Sports said that all headsets on the sidelines of the court are all manufactured by Bose. Previously, Motorola paid the NFL about $40 million annually with the same deal sponsorship.

Recode.net added in its report that Bose is not the only brand which is trying to improve their marketing strategy against Beats which has shot to fame among athletes and celebrities. Artists donning Dre headphones on television make the public want to be owners of those audio equipment too.

It can be remembered that this summer, Sony also blocked all its competitors during the FIFA World Cup--banning the use of Beats and other products during media events and on game days.