Chance Michaels is wearing his signature navy blue top hat while lording over a section in Yankee Stadium that is packed with fans in sky-blue shirts. The rowdy and robust group below chants, “Hey, hey baby, hoo-ha/I wanna know, oh oh oh oh oh/If you’re NYC.” Large banners wave and a violent drumbeat starts up as their team takes on Houston.

But it isn’t the Bronx Bombers these fans are cheering for.

This is New York Soccer — or the New York City Football Club to be more exact.

“Everyone who buys a ticket in this section knows what they are in for,” says Michaels, who is president of the Third Rail, the 1,700-member-strong official supporters club of the boroughs’ Major League Soccer team, in its first season. “There will be no sitting,” adds the 43-year-old of the designated supporters section behind the goal. It houses a number of fan organizations, including a women’s group, the Blue Ladies.

Since the start of the season, NYCFC — which calls Yankee Stadium home — has been averaging an impressive 27,000 fans per game. And while the team, which includes Spanish stud David Villa, struggles on the field (the team has 2 wins, 7 losses and 5 draws), some of the best action is in the stands.

Although the team is new, its fan culture is plucked from the European model, with some added Gotham flair. Fans proudly wear scarves, sing passionate songs and hold up MetroCards when a ref doles out a yellow card to an opponent. On occasion, they’ve thrown smoke bombs on the field.

And despite the team being in action for only a few months, some fans already have tattoos of the team logo.

“The atmosphere at the games is electric,” says Dennis Jiu, a 39-year-old Brooklyn resident and season-ticket holder. “It’s chanting, singing, drumbeating for 90 minutes straight. You can’t beat that. Win, lose or draw — and unfortunately it’s been a lot more of the latter two — you wouldn’t know by the fans’ enthusiasm.”

“You have a lot of people who know the nuances of the sport and some who are just learning,” says Michaels, a father of three. “A lot of us are trying to create a community we will pass down to our kids.”

Dave Bogart of Park Slope agrees. “The fun part is building a culture here. There’s no NY fan base, so we are starting it from scratch. It’s really grass roots,” says Bogart, 30.

Michaels says he knew something special was brewing on his way to the home opener.

“I got off the Major Deegan and saw all of these vendors selling bootleg NYCFC gear. That’s how I knew the sport had arrived.”

The next NYCFC home game is Saturday at 7 p.m.

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