(AllHipHop News) The World Cup may be the only event where one can claim the world is watching with a high degree of certainty, so it’s advertising heaven. Today (June 17th), reports surface that FIFA’s existing licensing agreement with Sony has forced them to ban World Cup players from wearing Beats by Dre headphones.
On June 5th, days before the World Cup began, Beats Electronics released a five minute mini movie entitled “The Game Before The Game” featuring World Cup players as well as Lil Wayne and other celebrities. Even though the video has amassed over 11 million views on YouTube, FIFA has banned players from wearing the headphones in the World Cup stadiums and during media events. Sony, official partner with FIFA has provided the players with headphones to wear during those times they are not permitted to wear any other headphone brand.
This is Beats Electronics second attempt at circumventing FIFA’s licensing rule. During the 2012 Olympics in London, the headphone maker provided headphones to the U.S. Basketball team, which included Lebron James who had a stake in the company at the time.
Check out the 5-minute “The Game Before The Game” below: