Pittsburgh Steeler players wait on the field in the dark after the stadium lights in Candlestick Park went out in the second quarter during their Monday Night NFL football game against the San Francisco 49ers in San Francisco, California December 19, 2011. The San Francisco 49ers and Pittsburgh Steelers Monday night game was interrupted when the power went out at the 49ers home stadium Candlestick Park, after an earlier outage at the stadium, a team official said. The second outage lasted about 20 minutes before power was restored, he said. Play was stopped, but the game resumed when the lights came back on.
Credit: Reuters/Robert GalbraithSAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The San Francisco 49ers' home-field 20-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers, televised live on ESPN's "Monday Night Football" broadcast, was delayed by back-to-back power outages that twice plunged Candlestick Park into darkness.
The first of the two outages struck shortly before game time on Monday, delaying the opening kickoff until power could be restored about 20 minutes later. The lights went out again early in the second quarter, halting play for another 20 minutes.
Stadium officials were seeking to determine the cause of the outages, said Steve Weakland, a spokesman for the 49ers.
San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee later issued a statement saying he has asked city officials to identify the cause of the power disruptions and to "identify immediate actions" to prevent "incidents such as this from happening again."
The twin blackouts marked the first time ESPN has experienced a power outage at a National Football League stadium in at least a dozen years, said Bill Hofheimer, a spokesman for the Disney-owned network.
Despite the outages, the cable sports channel continued its "Monday Night Football" broadcast, using generators and other backup systems, he said.
The 49ers' triumph over the Steelers improved San Francisco's record to 11-3 this season and left Pittsburgh with a 10-4 record.
(Reporting by Emmett Berg in San Francisco: Writing by Alex Dobuzinskis: Editing by Steve Gorman)
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