Four of the NASL's five established franchises participated: the Dallas Tornado, Rochester Lancers, St. Louis Stars and Washington Darts.

Most fouls committed would result in a two-minute, sending-off penalty being assessed to the offending player, which would also give the opposition a hockey-style power play.

The first was that a player in their own defensive half was not permitted to kick the ball directly over the boards out of play.

Eight minutes and five seconds into the opening match of the tournament, the home fans cheered as Jim Leeker put St. Louis ahead with the historic, first-ever NASL indoor goal.

Their joy was short-lived as the Tornado rallied to defeat the Stars, 2–1, on the strength of two second-half goals by Jim Benedek.

After a longer intermission, the losing teams, St. Louis and Washington, faced off in the Third Place match, with the Stars winning, 2–0.

Pundits attributed this to the players' instinctive reluctance to play in offside positions, despite the nonexistence of such a rule in hoc-soc.

[5][6] In February 1974 the famed Soviet Red Army squad embarked on a three-city tour (Toronto, Philadelphia, St. Louis) against NASL competition.

By no small coincidence, the future co-founder of the Major Indoor Soccer League, Ed Tepper, was also in attendance at the Spectrum that night in 1974.

Liking what he saw, Tepper later shared a videotape of a 1977 indoor match[8] with former Washington Whips owner, Earl Foreman.

In 2008 the Federación Internacional de Fútbol Rápido, or FIFRA, was formed as the sport's international governing body.