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BeatsDreThe NFL has a new audio sponsor that will restrict NFL players using their Beats by Dre headphones on camera.

Bose is now an official NFL sponsor, players are not allowed to wear Beats or any other of the audio company’s rivals on camera according to a report from Recode.

Bose secured a league sponsorship deal that effectively allows it to elbow Beats — and any other rival headphone manufacturer — off the playing field.

Under terms of its agreement with the league, the NFL confirmed, Bose received a broad set of rights that entitle it to prevent players (or coaches) from wearing any other manufacturer’s headphones during televised interviews.

This ban extends to TV interviews conducted during pre-season training camps or practice sessions and on game day — starting before the opening kickoff through the final whistle to post-game interviews conducted in the locker room or on the podium. The restriction remains in place until 90 minutes after the play has ended.

Basically, since Bose dropped major coin for that sponsorship, they have been granted the right to curve their competitors when it involves the NFL and its players. Sort of.

The NFL, which enforces the terms of the agreement with Bose, defended the practice.

“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,” an NFL spokesperson said in a statement. “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.”

So if you see Beats spokesmen like Colin Kaepernick or Richard Sherman rocking Dre’s headphones, while in uniform, expect them to get fined.

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