Yes, you read that correctly. The NFL is now fining players who wear the popular “Beats” headphones instead of those made by NFL sponsor, Bose. And players are incurring fines rather than switch:
NFL fines be damned, players are still wearing Beats headphones: http://t.co/KwWlXaeAT9
— Deadspin (@Deadspin) October 12, 2014
NFL players are still wearing Beats headphones despite fines http://t.co/9SZtyaJkDt pic.twitter.com/9Ucr56tpSx
— BI: Tech (@SAI) October 12, 2014
#49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick fined by NFL for wearing Beats by Dre headphones http://t.co/q0qJQGFpdk pic.twitter.com/mvdOirSv6v
— SF Business Times (@SFBusinessTimes) October 12, 2014
NFL players are still wearing Beats by Dre and daring the NFL to fine them.. http://t.co/iZP94wuP1K #redskins #NFL #HTTR
— RedSkins News (@TRACK_RedSkins) October 12, 2014
The NFL’s policy to fine players over this doesn’t make much sense, however. For every fine the NFL levies on a player, “Beats” gets tons of free publicity. There’s some speculation that Beats, which is owned by Apple, will pay the fines for the players, making this pretty cheap advertising for Beats:
It is hilarious how the NFL's ban & fine on players using Beats has caused Beats to get so much more coverage. #streisandeffect
— Wes Miller (@getwired) October 12, 2014
NFL QBs wearing Beats pre-game and getting $10k fine is the greatest advertisement Dr Dre/Apple or whoever owns em now could ever wish for.
— DAVIS HSU (@DavisHsuSeattle) October 12, 2014
If Beats is paying NFL players to take a $10k fine then that is fantastic marketing. Rule No.1: make sure people talk about your product.
— Matt Brian (@m4tt) October 12, 2014
But until we know if Beats is paying the fines and, in effect, using the ban as a marketing ploy, there’s a lot of negative sentiment directed toward the players on Twitter. i.e., It must be nice to have the kind of cash to laugh off $10,000:
@Deadspin must be nice to have thousands of dollars to spend because you want to wear some crappy over priced headphones as a status symbol
— Daniel Erickson (@Texanfuzz414) October 12, 2014
The beats ban in the NFL is stupid, but your more stupid if if youre ok with the 10k fine each wk to wear them anyways.
— Pam (@PRod85) October 12, 2014
You know what's ridiculous? I'm taking out loans to pay for my education but NFL players are paying $10,000 per game to wear Beats
— Kira Fad (@KayFad) October 12, 2014
@Deadspin and people wonder why many of these guys are broke after retiring
— Daniel Erickson (@Texanfuzz414) October 12, 2014
And this user discovered that anybody who decided to Google this whole NFL and Beats controversy gets reminded of the league’s other problem, domestic abuse:
Haven't been following this NFL "Beats" headphones controversy so I thought I'd Google it… pic.twitter.com/w3T8A9bW0z
— Eric Michel (@ericmichel) October 12, 2014
Great job, NFL. You’re giving mega publicity to a competitor’s product AND reminding people that the league has a domestic assault problem:
Massive fines by the NFL hasn't stopped players from putting Beats on their head…or from putting Beats on their wives for that matter.
— Joe Praino (@FixYourLife) October 12, 2014
Fix that Beats by Dre problem before it gets out of hand, @NFL. Ignore that domestic violence problem until it is thrust into the spotlight.
— Greg Kopycinski (@GregKope) October 12, 2014
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Related:
Full Twitchy coverage of Ray Rice scandal here.