FOOTBALL RETURNS TO GREAT INDOORS
Several thousand boisterous fans came out to watch the Bay Area Panthers' second home game of the season on Monday night at SAP Center.
Despite the 53-27 loss to the Vegas Knight Hawks, the fans seemed to enjoy the action.
The Panthers are the first indoor football team playing at SAP Center since the San Jose SaberCats played there as part of the Arena Football League in 2015, when they won the AFL championship.
Gilroy resident Steven Avelar attended his first Panthers game on Monday with his 3-year-old son, Mason. He remembered fondly coming to the SAP Center to watch the SaberCats play when he was younger.
Shari Kinney, from Hayward, arrived early enough to high-five players during warmups. Kinney and her husband, Mark, have purchased season tickets; she also had season tickets with the SaberCats.
The Sabercats played at SAP Center from 1995 to 2008 and from 2011 to 2015. During that time they won four AFL championships and had 16 playoff appearances.
Originally the Oakland Panthers, the Panthers were scheduled to play at the Oakland Coliseum in 2020 but, after pandemic delays, the team relocated to San Jose's SAP Center and renamed itself the Bay Area Panthers. The Panthers are part of the Indoor
Football League.
Co-owned by former NFL running back Marshawn Lynch, the Panthers were a day away from playing their first game in front of no fans at the Coliseum Arena when the team reversed course and postponed its March 14, 2020, game after growing concerns
about the spread of the coronavirus.
The Panthers are three games into their 16-game season and are 1-2. They defeated the San Diego Strike Force in their opener but lost at the Northern Arizona Wranglers prior to Monday's loss to the Vegas Knight Hawks.