I dunno... I was watching an NBA game* the other day and 4/5 players had AirPods in as they entered the arena and the other singleton had over the ear headphones. This totally caught me off-guard, and was so noticeable I made a mental note of it.
* I know, not representative of the general population, and USA-centric, but the A list tends to be representative of what people want and, if they can afford it, what they have.
Have you watched The Defiant Ones[1] on HBO? I can't exactly recall if they were giving Beats out to players for free, but there is a segment of the documentary where they talk about how ubiquitous Beats became because players were shown wearing them in the pregame. You could be pretty spot on with your assumption.
* I know, not representative of the general population, and USA-centric, but the A list tends to be representative of what people want and, if they can afford it, what they have.