It had already become clear to Dee Haslam that soccer supporters are a different breed, but she still took note of the group gathered outside Mapfre Stadium on one evening over the summer. Two years after Haslam and her husband, Jimmy, purchased controlling interest in the Columbus Crew, their fans were still finding novel ways to make a statement.
“The fans are very different,” she told Sports Illustrated. “We drove up to a match one night and the fans were standing out on the sidewalk [outside the stadium]. They couldn’t go in! But they stood out on the sidewalk.