Three teams (Houston, Rochester and Washington) folded, while four others (Memphis, Detroit, New England and Philadelphia) moved to new cities.
The Chicago Sting defeated the New York Cosmos in Soccer Bowl '81 on September 26 to win the championship.
When Major League Baseball players went on strike on June 12, there was speculation that other sports, especially soccer, would see larger crowds.
The shoot-out started 35 yards from the goal and allowed the player 5 seconds to attempt a shot.
Even though this particular match was a scoreless tie after overtime, NASL procedure also called for the box score to show an additional "goal" given to the winning team.