I remember those guys too. Right you are, the NASL failed because lesser teams could not pay the dough to attract the talent. I don’t know if professional soccer is financial feasible in all parts of the country considering the other sports options available.
If they kept it to maybe 10 teams in the best markets, they could have spread the talent around. They just went crazy with expansion, at least the MLS avoided it, although I do wonder if they are starting to overstep things as well.