Mbappé to On: More than Your Normal Boot Deal

50 Perspective

Nov 10

GREG BIRD 
SENIOR CREATIVE

The biggest deals in football used to be fairly simple: a fee, a pair of boots, some trendy apparel (we all owned some DB7 clothing growing up), and your face across every media platform going.

Becks and Adidas wrote the game’s blueprint, but Kylian Mbappé’s move from Nike to On shows how much that model is changing.

Footballers moving brands have always taken up column space and more recently, generated social hysteria

Thierry Henry (we’ll come back to him later) leaving Nike for Reebok, Neymar swapping Mercurial Vapors for Kings, Aitana Bonmatí returning to Adidas and Harry Kane becoming the face of Skechers’ football arm.

These moves can often feel like club transfers in their own right, a star leaving the brand they’ve been with since childhood, a new challenger making a huge statement signing, months of speculation (is anything a secret anymore?), a reveal and now the wait to see a player wear the boots for the first time.

There’s a new system at play here, footballers now want more from a sponsor
It’s reported Mbappé will help develop On’s first football boots and has equity in the company too, there’s something in being more than the face of a brand so why not have a hand in building it?

On has a history of this, more recently in the world of tennis with Roger Federer. Now Mbappé is helping spearhead a new frontline in its football output, with Henry working behind the scenes as director of football. This instantly gives them credibility in a sometimes sceptical and competitive football ecosystem.
Naturally for On, their ambition goes beyond a Real Madrid star and a pair of boots. They want to firmly cement their place on the team-sheet and I’m sure we can expect further footwear, clothes and kits.

SO, WHAT’S NEXT FOR THIS PARTNERSHIP?

Mbappé has generated the headlines way before the boots are due to be on shelves in 2027, and he’s already played in a white-out On prototype. He’s got a say in the product and a stake in its success, but the question we’ll all be asking is the usual one of how will he, and they, perform on the pitch? 

And how will Nike respond? Mbappé wore masked-out Mercurial Superfly 11s in the game against Atlético Madrid and Nike cleverly launched a white-out Superfly 11 resembling the boots he wore in the Derby via its Nike By You customisation service. Has this transfer accidentally started a new boot trend?

50 Operations