The Stars and Stripes flew proudly above the street. Miami Dolphins cheerleaders danced to hip hop while attentive men observed the choreography. NFL fans crowded in, wearing the colours of the New York Giants, New England Patriots or New Orleans Saints.

"How's everyone doin'?" a cheerleader named Jodi — dressed in a minuscule skirt and equally tiny top — enthusiastically asked the crowd in a Florida accent.



The scene had the makings of game day in Miami or just about any other major American city.

This, however, was unfolding 7,000 kilometres from Florida on a grey Saturday along London's Regent Street.

It's one of the clearest signs yet Britain isn't immune to growing influence from the red, white and blue cultural juggernaut. The two countries' "special relationship" — as Winston Churchill first alluded to — has seen ups and downs and continues to evolve as Britain charts a new course outside the European Union.

Britons' love for the U.S. was on full display as the busy central street was closed to traffic for the American football festival, meant to promote the NFL's ongoing series of games at London's Wembley and Twickenham stadiums.

New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara (41) runs past Miami Dolphins defenders to score a touchdown during the second half of an NFL football game at Wembley Stadium in London on Oct. 1, 2017. (Matt Dunham/Associated Press)

"The NFL is growing so big" here, said Alex Ryde, who travelled to London from Wales with his brother Tony for the occasion.

Both wore Dolphins helmets and sweaters and had their faces painted orange and white, trademark team colours.

This past July 4, Major League Baseball marked Independence Day in the country from which 13 American colonies declared independence by hosting its first Hyde Park home run derby.

The Philadelphia 76ers and Boston Celtics will play the NBA's eighth regular-season game in London next January. Ten years after the NFL presented its first regular-season game in London, the league has cemented its own fanbase that's calling for a full-time London franchise.



"That would be the dream," Tony Ryde said.

Beyond the football field

From rugby to sausage rolls, Britain has for centuries developed its own storied culture.

Although it has borrowed from others over the years, the U.K.'s tastes in sports, beer and food have largely remained distinct from those of its former colonies across the Atlantic.

"A bit of American doesn't hurt anybody," said Amber Piper of Northern Ireland who was shopping for the day on Regent Street.

I love American culture, I think it's just completely different to British. - Amber Piper

"I love American culture, I think it's just completely different to British," she said, describing Americans as "a lot more enthusiastic."

It was once unthinkable to find the most American of beers — euphemistically described as "cold and light-tasting" — in a country known for its bitter, room-temperature ales.

Yet Bud Light, the top-selling beer brand in the U.S., landed in British supermarkets and pubs earlier this year to little protest.



The makers of Bud Light heralded its U.K. launch by repainting London red double-decker buses blue and declaring in bold white letters: "It's smoothified. We're American, we can make up words."

Speaking the same language

Those words appear to be crossing the Atlantic, too.



In fact, in his recent book, That's The Way It Crumbles: The American Conquest of English, author Matthew Engel predicts Americanisms will swallow the language whole by 2120.



"Britain needs to be conscious of the need to maintain its own language," he said from his home in Herefordshire, England.

American flags and Union Jacks line London's Regent Street to promote the NFL's latest series of games at Wembley and Twickenham stadiums, the homes of English soccer and rugby. (Thomas Daigle/CBC)

Engel, who describes himself as "one of the very few people in this country who's a baseball fan," has noticed an increased prevalence of the sport's terminology here.

He points to examples such as "stepping up to the plate," coming out of "left field" or "three strike, you're out."



"Almost no one else in Britain has the faintest idea what 'stepping up to the plate' means and yet they're using it all the time," he said.

Premium prices

As the U.K. quits the EU, it may find itself with an influx of other American treasures, some as unrefined as Mountain Dew.



At least that's the hope of Ali Punjani, owner of the aptly named American Food Store in London's Notting Hill neighbourhood.



From Dunkin' Donuts ground coffee (about $18 Cdn for 340 grams) to Tide laundry detergent ($30 Cdn for 1.47 litres), Punjani sells an array of U.S. favourites at premium prices, mainly to American expats.

Prices are considerably higher than in the U.S., given that Punjani specially orders the products and pays import tariffs.

Ali Punjani, owner of London's American Food Store, pictured with his daughter Masuma, is hoping Brexit will make it easier and cheaper for him to import U.S. goods. (Thomas Daigle/CBC)

He hopes Brexit will allow the U.K. to reach a new free trade deal with the U.S., cutting prices for him and eliminating some EU restrictions on food and drinks.

He'd love to sell the original Mountain Dew — it's "really nice," he said — but it contains too much sodium benzoate, a chemical food preservative regulated by the EU.



Punjani hopes the restrictions will change after Britain's exit from the EU, but isn't counting on that happening.

"The logic says yes. In practice, I think they'll stick to the old EU rules even when they're out."

Tensions between the countries

As the U.K. gets a divorce from its European neighbours, some observers expect the country to be driven toward closer relations with United States.

Despite the special relationship between the two, "tensions have often complicated trilateral relations between the U.K., the United States and the EU," Stewart M. Patrick and James Resnick wrote recently for the U.S.-based Council on Foreign Relations.

A post-Brexit trade deal "would give both countries a needed economic lift," they said. Plus, with the election of Donald Trump, with his "America first" policies, it "would signal that neither country is alone in the world," Patrick and Resnick said.

Others, though, see the Americanization of British culture as a symptom of a broader phenomenon: the internationalization of the country and particularly London.

The import of American sports, beer and food "would have happened whether Brexit happened or not," said Tim Oliver, an associate of LSE IDEAS, the London School of Economics' foreign policy think-tank.

Football fans filled London's Regent Street on Sept. 30 as the NFL held an all-day festival to promote its series of games in the British capital. (Thomas Daigle/CBC)

Belgian and German beers and other European products are also much more widely available than they were previously, he said.

"Britain's economic, social, political, legal, historic relationship with the rest of Europe is deeply interconnected," he said. "You can't really take Britain out of Europe.

"One reason the U.K. pursues a close relationship with the U.S. is to keep the U.S. committed to Europe," Oliver said, pointing out Britain leans on its partner for help leading the continent and serving British interests.

Punjani sees it differently. After Brexit, he expects American influence will continue to expand here culturally.

"It has to be, because Britain needs America if they're out of the EU," he said. "And I think America would like to have Britain on its side as well."