Nike and Adidas’s football duopoly begins to crack as Kylian Mbappé backs ON | OneFootball

Kylian Mbappé has left Nike after wearing the brand since age eight, signing a 10-year boot deal with Swiss company ON, highlighting pressure on football’s duopoly. The fee was not disclosed, but L'Équipe estimates it at about 20 million a year.

On 14 July 2026, seconds before France faced Spain in the World Cup semi-final, the Real Madrid striker was still lacing up Nike boots. France lost and Spain later lifted the trophy.

He will also take an equity stake, with Thierry Henry involved, echoing Roger Federer’s 2019 tie-up with the brand. Nike will sponsor the German national team from 2027, ending an Adidas run that began in 1954.

Industry figures call this a market reshaping, not a clean break. Smaller brands are exploiting niches and giving athletes leading roles, but lasting gains will hinge on product, price and quality. Nike, Adidas and Puma still control most of the boot market.

The giants have been under strain. Since 2020 Nike’s share price has fallen 64 percent, including a 20 percent one-day drop after a 2024 warning, Elliott Hill replaced John Donahoe as CEO, and revenue was flat in fiscal 2026.

Adidas’s slide followed the 2022 collapse of its Yeezy tie-up after Kanye West’s antisemitic remarks, with an estimated hit of up to 250 million euros to 2022 net profit. Bjorn Gulden then took charge, profit rose from 60 million to 336 million, and record sales were signalled in January.

Source: El Periódico Mediterráneo

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