By Oli Bealby, Co-Founder at Stereo Creative
I was back in England over the summer, and it felt like Americana Fever had swept the nation.
Country music on the radio. NFL jerseys on the high street. Yellowstone-lite boots in pubs. And now, with Budweiser replacing Heineken as sponsor of the UEFA Champions League, even our football is getting the Stars and Stripes treatment. When I asked friends and colleagues what was going on, it kept coming back to one word: Possibility.
When we say ‘the land of the free’, it’s the idea that anything is possible that creates the conditions for real freedom. It’s not about legal theory. It’s emotional – cultural. It’s the freedom to dream. To start again. To believe you might get a bigger life than the one you were handed. That the next season might actually be different.
Here’s what brands need to know about the rise of Americana across the globe.
Politics sets the mood, sport makes it real
This isn’t a political column, but politics is clearly part of the backdrop.
The people dominating headlines are the ones who present themselves as rule-breakers. Often deeply problematic, but not short of ideas. That very visible attitude of “to hell with the rules, let’s do something big”, is currently palpable in our culture.
Sport is where that energy goes to work in culture.
NFL games in London have gone from novelty to fixture. NBA games in Paris and London sell out instantly. American sports aesthetics – big jerseys, college logos, varsity hoodies, have become symbols of identity for this idea. And it’s not one-way traffic. British and European football are going the other direction just as fast.
Premier League clubs like Arsenal tour the U.S. and pull huge crowds. American fans are getting up at 4:30 a.m. to watch mid-table fixtures. Wrexham (a Welsh club most British people barely thought about five years ago) is now a U.S. content property.
Sport is the bridge. It’s where identities, myths and values cross the Atlantic without anyone needing a trade deal.
This isn’t “we love America now”
Brands see all this and go straight to the obvious move: logo on jersey or screen, maybe a cowboy hat in the key visual if they’re feeling brave.
That’s the risk.
Because this moment is not about Brits getting rid of Britishness and deciding they’d rather be American. If anything, it’s about trying to remember what being British is supposed to feel like: fairness, humour, underdog spirit, a bit of grit, a bit of mischief and the strength of our community, just about anything is, yes…possible.
People see those things reflected back at them in certain American stories: the small-town kid making it, the franchise that turns itself around, the “anyone can have a go” narrative. That’s what’s appealing.
If brands treat this as “import the vibe, stick our logo on it, they like freedom now,” they’ll get rejected.
We’re a cynical bunch. And proud. “What it means to be British” is not an academic question; it’s live and emotional. If it smells like corporate America is trying to hijack our culture just to sell us lager, people will turn fast.
Turning up vs being invited in
We’re also seeing European brands tap into Americana culture. Guinness is a great example of a brand that understood this cultural phenomenon and capitalized on it.
It didn’t just roll into the U.S., stick a harp on taps and hope. It went state by state, figured out what role it could play in existing drinking cultures, and embedded itself in real occasions – Irish bars, tailgates, St. Patrick’s Day parades in places with barely an Irish surname.
Whether or not this was started by Guinness, the game of ‘split-the-G’ must be shifting more kegs than any sponsorship has. A true masterpiece of tapping into culture and creating long-lasting impressions with their consumers.
Vehicles for culture, not just media inventory
This is the real shift: sport isn’t just “premium inventory” any more. It’s one of the main vehicles for culture to move around the world.
The job for brands isn’t to plant their flag on the vehicle. It’s to understand the culture it’s carrying.
That means asking:
- What are people actually looking for emotionally right now?
- What are the existing rituals we can add to, not overwrite?
- Who are the credible community voices we can work with?
Get that right, and you’re welcomed in. Get it wrong, and it doesn’t matter how big your logo is.
At its best, this Americana goes global moment isn’t about one side winning. It’s about consumers on both sides of the Atlantic looking for the same thing: a bit of hope, a bit of belonging, a sense that the next chapter might be bigger than the last.
If brands can help them feel that – without faking it -, then they deserve a place at the bar.
