Sep 24, 2026 · 31 min · 9 segments
Kylian Mbappe stunned soccer last week by announcing that he was ending his 20-year partnership with Nike to become the face of Swiss sportswear brand On’s move into the sport. This week, Steve…
Sam CarpHost
Steve McCaskillHost
I think the story broke last Friday that Kylian Mbappe, French footballer and Real Madrid star, one of the best footballers in the world, was ending a two-decade partnership with Nike to join Swiss running brand ON, which is the deal to announce bigger plans for football, including bringing in Thierry Henry as its director of football.
What was your reaction, Steve? I know you were the one who sent this across to me last week on Friday as we rushed to cover
What did you make of it all? My first reaction was I didn't realise Kylian Mbappe was old enough to have a two-decade-long association with a sportswear manufacturer.
I mean... you know i think you know it's not just the banks in switzerland that are secretive it's um their sportswear makers too because i don't i don't think any of us had anything about this coming through particularly especially involvement of thierry henry which you know again you've got two of the biggest names in in football over the last year what three three decades or or so and i think there's two elements that make this quite interesting one is obviously mbappe um So him shifting from Nike, he wasn't able to come to an agreement with them.
And it's almost though, of course, financially, it's going to be, I presume, quite lucrative.
He's going to get some equity in the company, which makes sense for all parties.
I think On have been one of the real success stories in that space, obviously, with a track record, no pun intended, in running with their footwear.
So... that's what i find quite interesting and also it's noteworthy that we've seen a few recent deals where really major footballers have signed with perhaps not as well recognized companies when i say that i mean you know they've not gone with nike adidas or puma you look at um harry kane at sketches you look at uh kaiosaka with new new balance it's almost as though they want to be a leader for that brand rather than just one one of many so it's becoming a a viable alternative to just partnering with one of the major manufacturers.
And the second element of this is, again, on branching out even further into another sport, one it's never been involved with before.
It's, you know, certainly on a recreational level, they've been hugely popular So with amateur athletes, they've got, you know, got into a few lifestyle sports like tennis.
And of course, you know, again, this is also an opportunity to talk about Swiss sports without prompting it myself.
So it's a really interesting development that unites a major sport a major athlete with a brand that had been built on, I guess, technical proficiency rather than marketing prowess.
I think the involvement of Henri that you mentioned and the fact they've been able to keep that under wraps.
You have to wonder whether Henri... potentially played a part in getting Mbappe on board as well and convincing him to come over maybe that was a strategic move from on as well with one eye on who they could kind of announce as their flagship first endorser I was trying to work out as well whether Henri had ever worked with or sort of appeared alongside Roger Federer I think they might have done they did they did Gillette together didn't they yeah endorsed Gillette back in the day so I don't know maybe that's too tenuous a link but obviously Roger Federer famously invested in On back in 2019 there's been lots of stories ever since in terms of how the value of that stake has grown and so I think there's obviously certain parallels between in terms of how that helped on grow in the tennis space and how this deal with Mbappe they hope will obviously help him grow in football as well.
I think the story broke last Friday that Kylian Mbappe, French footballer and Real Madrid star, one of the best footballers in the world, was ending a two-decade partnership with Nike to join Swiss running brand ON, which is the deal to announce bigger plans for football, including bringing in Thierry Henry as its director of football.
What was your reaction, Steve? I know you were the one who sent this across to me last week on Friday as we rushed to cover
What did you make of it all? My first reaction was I didn't realise Kylian Mbappe was old enough to have a two-decade-long association with a sportswear manufacturer.
I mean... you know i think you know it's not just the banks in switzerland that are secretive it's um their sportswear makers too because i don't i don't think any of us had anything about this coming through particularly especially involvement of thierry henry which you know again you've got two of the biggest names in in football over the last year what three three decades or or so and i think there's two elements that make this quite interesting one is obviously mbappe um So him shifting from Nike, he wasn't able to come to an agreement with them.
And it's almost though, of course, financially, it's going to be, I presume, quite lucrative.
He's going to get some equity in the company, which makes sense for all parties.
I think On have been one of the real success stories in that space, obviously, with a track record, no pun intended, in running with their footwear.
So... that's what i find quite interesting and also it's noteworthy that we've seen a few recent deals where really major footballers have signed with perhaps not as well recognized companies when i say that i mean you know they've not gone with nike adidas or puma you look at um harry kane at sketches you look at uh kaiosaka with new new balance it's almost as though they want to be a leader for that brand rather than just one one of many so it's becoming a a viable alternative to just partnering with one of the major manufacturers.
And the second element of this is, again, on branching out even further into another sport, one it's never been involved with before.
It's, you know, certainly on a recreational level, they've been hugely popular So with amateur athletes, they've got, you know, got into a few lifestyle sports like tennis.
And of course, you know, again, this is also an opportunity to talk about Swiss sports without prompting it myself.
So it's a really interesting development that unites a major sport a major athlete with a brand that had been built on, I guess, technical proficiency rather than marketing prowess.
I think the involvement of Henri that you mentioned and the fact they've been able to keep that under wraps.
You have to wonder whether Henri... potentially played a part in getting Mbappe on board as well and convincing him to come over maybe that was a strategic move from on as well with one eye on who they could kind of announce as their flagship first endorser I was trying to work out as well whether Henri had ever worked with or sort of appeared alongside Roger Federer I think they might have done they did they did Gillette together didn't they yeah endorsed Gillette back in the day so I don't know maybe that's too tenuous a link but obviously Roger Federer famously invested in On back in 2019 there's been lots of stories ever since in terms of how the value of that stake has grown and so I think there's obviously certain parallels between in terms of how that helped on grow in the tennis space and how this deal with Mbappe they hope will obviously help him grow in football as well.
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