# Soccer Bowl (2011–2017)

The NASL Championship was the annual championship competition of the North American Soccer League (NASL), which formed the second division of American soccer from 2011 to 2017. The competition was held at the end of the regular season and was contested by the two finalists of the playoffs to determine the winner of the NASL Trophy, known as the Soccer Bowl Trophy. The trophy was named for the Soccer Bowl championship game from the original incarnation of the NASL, which ran from 1967 to 1984.

## Format

In the league's first two seasons, the championship final was played as a two-match aggregate series at the conclusion of a playoff bracket.
The league announced a switch for the 2013 season to a one-game championship final, also known as the "Soccer Bowl".
Beginning with the 2014 season, a new format was introduced, in which the whole playoff tournament was called the NASL Championship, with the final game being called the NASL Championship Final. From that point on, "Soccer Bowl" was only used in referring only to the physical trophy itself. This format persisted through the 2017 final, the NASL's last, as the league suspended operations shortly thereafter and went defunct the following year.

## Trophy

On October 22, 2011, the day their inaugural championship series got underway in Minnesota, the new NASL unveiled its championship trophy. The silver trophy featured a large bowl etched with the NASL logo resting atop three long prongs, and the words "North American Soccer League" and "Soccer Bowl" inscribed prominently across the base.

## Results

NASL Championship (2011–2017) :
| Event | Game | Venue | Location | Champions | Score | Runners-up | Attendance | Television | MVP | Notes |
| NASL Championship | 2011 (NASL Championship Series 2011) October 22, 29 | National Sports Center Lockhart Stadium | Blaine, Minnesota Fort Lauderdale, Florida | NSC Minnesota Stars | 3–1 0–0 Aggregate 3–1 | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 4,511 6,849 | GOL TV | Luke Mulholland (NSC Minnesota Stars) | Luke Mulholland scored game one winning goal in 53rd min. |
| NASL Championship Series | 2012 (NASL Championship Series 2012) October 20, 27 | National Sports Center Al Lang Stadium | Blaine, Minnesota St. Petersburg, Florida | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 0–2 3–1 Aggregate 3–3 (a.e.t.) PSO 3–2 | Minnesota Stars | 4,642 6,208 | Ustream | Jeff Attinella (Tampa Bay Rowdies) | Jeff Attinella saved 3 penalty kicks in shoot-out. Fafà Picault scored winning penalty kick. |
| Soccer Bowl | 2013 (Soccer Bowl 2013) November 9 | Atlanta Silverbacks Park | Atlanta, Georgia | New York Cosmos | 1–0 | Atlanta Silverbacks | 7,211 | ESPN3 ESPN Deportes | Marcos Senna (New York Cosmos) | Marcos Senna scored championship winning goal in the 50th min. |
| NASL Championship Final | 2014 (NASL Championship Final 2014) November 15 | Toyota Field | San Antonio, Texas | San Antonio Scorpions | 2–1 | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 7,847 | ESPN3 ONE World Sports NASLLive.com KSAT12 Sofloradio.com | Rafael Castillo (San Antonio Scorpions) | Rafael Castillo scored on a bicycle kick in the 69th min. and assisted on Billy Forbes game winner in 74th min. |
| NASL Championship Final | 2015 (NASL Championship Final 2015) November 15 | James M. Shuart Stadium | Hempstead, New York | New York Cosmos | 3–2 | Ottawa Fury | 10,166 | ESPN3 ONE World Sports NASLLive.com | Gastón Cellerino (New York Cosmos) | Gastón Cellerino scored a hat trick before a modern NASL-record playoff crowd. |
| NASL Championship Final | 2016 (NASL Championship Final 2016) November 15 | Belson Stadium | Queens, New York | New York Cosmos | 0–0 PSO 4–2 | Indy Eleven | 2,150 | CBS Sports Network | None | |
| NASL Championship Final | 2017 (NASL Championship Final 2017) November 12 | Kezar Stadium | San Francisco | San Francisco Deltas | 2–0 | New York Cosmos | 9,691 | beIN SPORTS | | |