Soccer Bowl
The match was played at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey on August 27 between the American Conference champion Tampa Bay Rowdies and the National Conference champion and defending Soccer Bowl champion Cosmos. Seeing the large home crowds the Cosmos had drawn during the 1977 NASL season, the league awarded Soccer Bowl hosting duties to the club. The match drew a Soccer Bowl-record 74,901 fans, more than doubling the previous year's attendance at Portland's Civic Stadium. To date, it remains the largest crowd for a professional club soccer championship game in North America.