The league's twenty teams were divided into two conferences (Atlantic or Pacific), playing a total of 240 matches. Each team's 24 matches were divided between a round-robin with other teams in the same conference and six matches against different teams in the other conference.
Points were awarded for wins (six) and each goal (up to three) regardless of results; ties in regulation were decided by 15 minutes of
sudden death overtime followed by a
penalty shootout from 35 yards (105 ft). The playoffs were expanded from eight to twelve teams with automatic berths for the top two teams in each of the four divisions and two
wild card slots per conference for the remaining best finishing teams.[1]
The
Toronto Metros-Croatia defeated the
Minnesota Kicks in the
Soccer Bowl on August 28 to win the championship. The match was hosted at the
Kingdome in
Seattle, the new home of the
Seattle Sounders. The
Tampa Bay Rowdies finished the regular season with the best record, giving them consecutive titles in three different domestic NASL competitions. Though not in a calendar year, within 12 months they won the
Soccer Bowl in August 1975, the
NASL indoor cup in March 1976, and the
regular season shield or
premiership in August 1976. Since NASL teams at that time did not participate in the
U.S. Open Cup, this would be the closest one would ever come to achieving any sort of a North American
treble.
Changes from the previous season
New teams
None
Teams folding
None
Teams moving
Baltimore Comets to San Diego Jaws
Denver Dynamos to Minnesota Kicks
Name changes
None
Regular season
Pld = Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, GD = Goal Differential, BP = Bonus Points, Pts= total points
6 points for a win,
1 point for a shootout win,
0 points for a loss,
1 point for each regulation goal scored up to three per game.