Swiss sportswear company On has announced a landmark partnership with French football star Kylian Mbappé, marking the brand's entry into the world's most popular sport and bringing an end to the Real Madrid striker's near-20-year association with Nike. The deal, whose financial terms were not disclosed publicly, is reported by Bloomberg to run for ten years and to include an equity stake for Mbappé in On Holding, the company's parent. On also announced the appointment of 1998 World Cup winner Thierry Henry as its new football director — a role in which Henry is said to have played a key part in persuading Mbappé to join the project.

Founded in Zurich in 2010, On built its reputation in premium running and tennis footwear before expanding rapidly on global markets. The brand counts tennis legend Roger Federer — who made a similar move away from Nike late in his playing career — among its shareholders. On has also signed top tennis players including Iga Świątek and Ben Shelton. The Mbappé deal represents the company's most ambitious step yet, as it seeks to challenge Adidas and Nike, which together equipped eight in ten players at the last FIFA World Cup.

Mbappé, 27, had been linked to Nike since the age of nine, making the split a significant symbolic blow for the American sportswear giant, which has faced a difficult stretch: it also lost the official ball contract for the Premier League — the world's wealthiest football league — to Puma in 2025, while rising stars such as Spain's Lamine Yamal have moved to Adidas. Nike did, however, renew its kit deal with the French national team through the 2033–34 season, and issued a statement wishing Mbappé well in his