A number of disputes between Bose and Apple have prompted the Cupertino company to quietly remove all Bose headphones and speakers from its retail and online stores.

The decision was initially believed to be in retaliation to Bose filing a patent complaint against Beats Electronics shortly after the company owned by Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine was acquired by Apple for $3 billion. However, the complaint, filed with the International Trade Commission alleging Beats improperly used Bose’s noise-cancellation technology, was quickly settled out of court on the same day it was filed; the case has since been dismissed.

It now appears the dispute that led to Apple’s removal of Bose prodcuts has to do with Bose’s restrictive NFL sponsorship, which prohibits the league’s players from wearing any rival headphones during warm-ups and 45 minutes following a game. The NFL has fined San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick $10,000 for wearing Beats headphones during a post-game press conferences despite his having a paid endorsement deal with Beats.

Apple has not given a reason for discontinuing selling Bose products but 9to5Mac suggests it may be less punitive towards Bose and more about “focus on promoting Beats now that it owns the brand.” However, Apple stores offline and online still carry rival headphone brands, including Bowers & Wilkins, Urbanears, RHA and Sennheiser – so it is entirely possible that “the Bose move was more targeted,” the site concluded.

Digital fitness company Fitbit products may soon be pulled from Apple’s retail channels as Apple prepares to launch its Apple Watch in early 2015, according to 9to5Mac. A number of fitness tracking products are currently in stock. Fitbit, however, has not yet embraced Apple’s HealthKit platform.