Kylian Mbappé Ends Nike Partnership for On Holding Deal
Kylian Mbappé has closed the Nike chapter. Nineteen years, gone with one signature.
The Real Madrid forward has officially ended his relationship with the American giant and signed a landmark deal with Swiss brand On Holding, a company that built its name in running and is now stepping boldly into professional football.
Mbappé’s ties to Nike stretch back to when he was just eight years old. He rose through the academy ranks and into global superstardom with the Swoosh on his feet, eventually joining Cristiano Ronaldo and Vinícius Júnior as one of the faces of the Mercurial line. His own signature boots, special editions bearing his name, underlined his status as one of Nike’s elite earners and key marketing pillars.
That era is over.
On Holding, once a niche running specialist, has been steadily redrawing its own boundaries. The company brought in Roger Federer as an investor and strategic partner in November 2019, using the Swiss tennis legend to spearhead its push into new sports and co-create a signature product line. Now it has secured one of football’s most marketable stars to front its move into the global game.
The timing is no coincidence. Mbappé’s contract with Nike expired on July 31, leaving a cloud of uncertainty around his next step. He continued to appear in Nike campaigns, and the brand kept him visible across its channels, feeding the sense that a renewal might still be possible. Instead, the forward has chosen a clean break and a different kind of role.
“From the beginning, what drew me to On was the opportunity to build something entirely new together that will help shape tomorrow's game,” Mbappé said in the official announcement. “I want to bring my experience and perspective into what we create, push what's possible through innovation, and always stay true to the joy of football. We have a shared dream, and this is only the beginning.”
There is a clear blueprint here. Federer walked away from a long, lucrative partnership with Nike to join On, then moved beyond a standard endorsement deal to become a shareholder and help design his own line. Mbappé now steps onto a similar path, with the chance to influence how the brand looks, feels, and performs in football from day one.
Nike, for its part, backed Mbappé from his formative years, following him from his early academy days through Monaco, Paris Saint-Germain, and on to Madrid. The relationship helped shape both his image and Nike’s positioning in the new generation of stars. Ending that bond after almost two decades doesn’t just close a contract; it closes a defining era in football marketing.
The move hands Mbappé something he has never truly had in the boot world: authorship. With On preparing its first full football collection, the France captain is now positioned not just as the face of a campaign, but as a driving force behind the products themselves.
The Swoosh is in the rear-view mirror. The next step is Mbappé-branded, co-designed, and stamped with a Swiss logo aiming to disrupt football’s long-established order.
