HAMTRAMCK, Mich. Cheap MLB Jerseys Authentic . -- Immediately after the opening kickoff, colorful smoke was already floating through the air and fans were in full voice, singing and chanting in a display reminiscent of matches in Europe and South America.This wasnt Milan or Liverpool, though, or even Portland or Seattle. This was a fourth-tier soccer match at a renovated old stadium in Hamtramck, an enclave of Detroit.The team is called Detroit City FC. It competes in the National Premier Soccer League and its players arent paid, but this season the club drew about 5,000 fans a game at its new home field, turning a night at Keyworth Stadium into one of the areas most unique sports experiences. DCFCs growth is a testament to soccers grassroots appeal in the United States, and it comes as a group led by NBA owners Dan Gilbert and Tom Gores is trying to bring a Major League Soccer franchise to Detroit.The question now is: What will happen to DCFC if MLS shows up? And would an MLS team be able to capitalize on the soccer culture thats already here?The answer may not be that simple.Its a tightrope, said Alex Wright, one of DCFCs five owners. Its going to take some time and some conversation.There are over 80 teams in the NPSL, representing big cities like Chicago and Boston as well as places like Fredricksburg, Virginia, and Binghamton, New York. DCFC was founded in 2012, and the ownership group felt there was enough soccer interest in the Detroit area for the project to succeed. The barriers to entry werent exactly high. Wright says each co-owner had to kick in $2,500 for the buy-in and a chance to own a team and build it from the ground up.It was something we as founders who had day jobs could do on nights and weekends, but it also allowed us the flexibility and the freedom and opportunity to kind of like, really have some fun with what kind of team we wanted to be, Wright said.DCFC outgrew its home field and now plays at Keyworth. Theres an independent supporters group -- Northern Guard Supporters -- and fans march to matches together from a nearby bar.Near the entrance to the supporters section at the stadium, theres a banner laying out some ground rules for the uninitiated. Fans who venture into that area along one of the sidelines can expect to stand the whole game, hear plenty of foul language and have smoke bombs set off around them.As long as you can stand the smoke and stand the swearing -- and just stand for 90 minutes -- you fit right in, said 35-year-old Drew Gentry, a Northern Guard co-founder.Gentry became interested in soccer after stumbling upon a Champions League match on TV and being amazed by the fan atmosphere.Im like, `What do these people have? This is soccer, its not supposed to be interesting. Why do these people love this sport so much? he said.Gentry wanted a local version of what hed seen, a team he and his community could throw support behind. His is just one story of how an American under 40 came to love a sport that struggled for so long to gain a foothold in this country. Now fans are gravitating toward soccer for any number of reasons -- and the group putting together Detroits MLS bid knows it.Theres a group of people that grew up with soccer now. Theyre not necessarily people that grew up with the NFL or something else, said Matt Cullen, a principal of Gilbert-chaired Rock Ventures. It is almost like a little bit of a counterculture kind of thing, and people enjoy it in a different way. I think its the experience as much as the game at times.Thats certainly true at DCFC games. The players arent exactly household names. Fans go because of the atmosphere and the excitement of being part of something that theyre all helping build.In a more professional, traditional American setting, I think the mentality is you have to be something for everyone, Wright said. I think what soccer is proving is that while that is true -- that is one way to do it -- thats not the only way to do it. To be something real for some people, is also another way to go, because were not trying to fill a 65,000-seat stadium and we dont have 162 games a year.MLS teams dont have to draw 65,000 fans a game either. If there is a new team in Detroit, it would be in good shape if it can enjoy the type of loyalty DCFC receives from its fans. There is precedent for that kind of smooth transition. The Portland Timbers were a successful minor league team before being elevated to the MLS level in 2011.Theres some skepticism among the DCFC die-hards. The Northern Guard website includes a list of lyrics to various fan chants, and one of them aims its profanity-laced hostilities directly at Gilbert,