It’s that time of year again. Super Bowl LX is almost upon us and, like clockwork, the world starts turning its eyes towards one of the biggest sporting spectacles on the planet. Not just for the action on the field, or the halftime show, but for everything that sits around it. The noise. The drama. The theatre. And yes — the footwear.
Because every year, as part of the build-up, the brands roll out their showpiece cleats. The ones designed not just to be worn, but to be seen. And every year, without fail, I find myself thinking the same thing: football could learn a thing or two from this.
Football x football. American football x soccer. Call it what you want — there’s always been a soft crossover between America’s biggest sport and the rest of the world’s. They have a Beckham, we have a Beckham. But aside from the confusing naming conventions and the Beckhams of this world, the most obvious overlap is footwear. Boots if you’re this side of the pond, cleats if you’re the other. To the untrained eye, they’re not wildly different. But anyone who’s spent time around either game knows the technical requirements are miles apart.
And no, I’m not suggesting we start borrowing stud layouts or construction methods from the NFL to make footballers faster or give them better touch. That’s not the point and it just wouldn't work. The performance demands are totally different. But where I do think football could take a leaf out of American football’s book is in design — specifically, the balls-out, brakes-off approach to aesthetics.
The Super Bowl is spectacle in its purest form. Everything is amplified. Everything is intentional. And brands lean into that harder than anywhere else in sport. The game becomes a canvas, a moment where performance product meets cultural statement. The result? Cleats that feel unapologetically lavish.
Take the recently revealed adidas Hellstar x Superstars. It’s an absolute collision of worlds — sport, fashion, culture — all mashed together with zero restraint. Or Nike’s Vaporposite, which looks like it’s been pulled straight from a sci-fi storyboard. Even Under Armour, a brand that doesn’t always get mentioned in the same breath globally, shows up big for moments like this. These aren’t just colour updates. They’re ideas.
And crucially, they don’t sacrifice performance to get there. These are still elite-level cleats, worn on the biggest stage, under the brightest lights. The design is part of the performance, not a distraction from it.
Now compare that to football boots.
For the most part, football’s biggest moments are played out in relatively restrained executions. Safe palettes. Predictable updates. For every amazing limited edition Nike Air Max cross over or Predator collaboration, there's a hundred bland new colourways. Tournament packs that sometimes feel more like obligations than statements. And look — I get it. Football has tradition baked into its DNA. There’s a purity to the game that doesn’t always lend itself to excess, and I get that. But does that mean we can’t push things just a little bit further? There will be plenty among us that would call this type of talk heresy, for whom boots should be black and leather and that's that. But then there's the rest. Those open to expression in all forms...
Because I can’t help but imagine it. Mbappé, Yamal, Putellas, Bellingham — take your pick — stepping out for a Champions League final or a World Cup final in something genuinely bespoke. Not just a special paint job, although those absolutely have their place and have done wonders for individual expression over the years. I’m talking about brands fully leaning into the moment. Designing boots for the occasion, not just for the season.
Boots that acknowledge the scale of the event. Boots that feel celebratory. Boots that say, this is bigger than a matchday.
American football understands that the Super Bowl isn’t just a game — it’s a global stage. And the footwear reflects that. Football already has the stage. It already has the icons. What it maybe lacks is the willingness to treat those moments as opportunities to go all in on design.
This isn’t a call for football to lose its identity. It’s a call to expand it. To allow space for a bit more extravagance when the moment demands it. Because if American football can turn a pair of cleats into a cultural statement — without compromising performance — then surely the world’s biggest sport can afford to loosen the reins once in a while.
And honestly? I think the game would be better for it.
Check out what the Super Bowl has to offer this Sunday.
Nike cleat imagery courtesy of Complex Sneakers.
