SaberCats release 2005 schedule
October 27, 2004 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
San Jose SaberCats News Release
SAN JOSE, Calif. (Oct. 27, 2004) - The San Jose SaberCats begin defense of their Arena Football League title by playing four of their first five games on the road to open the 2005 season. The team travels to Tampa Bay for a season-opening tilt against the 2003 champion Storm on Saturday, January 29 and will play its 11th home opener one week later against Western Division rival Las Vegas on Saturday, February 5 as the AFL announced its 272 game-17 week schedule today.
San Jose will play each of the seven playoff teams from last season, including two each against division foes Los Angeles and Arizona. The SaberCats will host the Rattlers in a rematch of ArenaBowl XVIII on Sunday, April 3. The game also marks the return of former SaberCats head coach and San Francisco 49er Todd Shell to San Jose. The teams play at Arizona on Saturday, May 14.
"It's tough to win football games at any level," stated SaberCats head coach Darren Arbet. "This schedule will be a challenge for us, but it's a challenge we want and are looking forward to."
Following their home opener the SaberCats will play at New Orleans (Feb. 13), at Los Angeles (Feb. 20) and at Orlando (Mar. 6) before returning home. All three games are scheduled to be regionally televised on NBC. The network enters its third season broadcasting the AFL on a regional basis with games every Sunday throughout the season.
Also highlighting the schedule is a semifinal playoff rematch with the Rush in Chicago on Sunday, April 10 and a visit from the expansion Nashville Kats on Friday, April 29.
Four of San Jose's eight games at HP Pavilion are set for Friday nights while three will be played on Saturday and one on Sunday. "We have a very competitive home schedule," noted Arbet. "Our fans should be excited to see some of the best athletes in the AFL come to town."
With 17 teams competing for the ArenaBowl championship, one team has a bye each week throughout the 17-week regular season. San Jose's open date falls in Week 5. The start of the 2005 season is the earliest ever for the AFL. The regular-season schedule was moved up two weeks and begins during the open week of the NFL playoffs.
Season and group tickets for the 2004 season are available by contacting a sales representative at (408) 573-5577. Individual game tickets are set to go on sale in mid December and can be purchased through any Northern California TicketMaster outlet or the HP Pavilion box office. More information is also available at http://www.sanjosesabercats.com.
For a complete league schedule visit the AFL's official website http://www.arenafootball.com.
2005 SAN JOSE SABERCATS SCHEDULE
Day Date Opponent Time (PT) TV
Saturday Jan. 29 at Tampa Bay Storm 4:00 p.m.
Saturday Feb. 5 LAS VEGAS GLADIATORS 7:30 p.m.
Sunday Feb. 13 at New Orleans VooDoo 12:00 p.m. NBC
Sunday Feb. 20 at Los Angeles Avengers 3:00 p.m. NBC
BYE WEEK
Sunday Mar. 6 at Orlando Predators 9:00 a.m. NBC
Friday Mar. 11 PHILADELPHIA SOUL 7:30 p.m.
Friday Mar. 18 GRAND RAPIDS RAMPAGE 7:30 p.m.
Monday Mar. 28 at Las Vegas Gladiators 7:00 p.m.
Sunday Apr. 3 ARIZONA RATTLERS 6:00 p.m.
Sunday Apr. 10 at Chicago Rush 10:00 a.m. NBC
Friday Apr. 15 DALLAS DESPERADOS 7:30 p.m.
Friday Apr. 22 at Colorado Crush 6:00 p.m.
Friday Apr. 29 NASHVILLE KATS 7:30 p.m.
Saturday May 7 LOS ANGELES AVENGERS 7:30 p.m.
Saturday May 14 at Arizona Rattlers 7:00 p.m.
Saturday May 21 GEORGIA FORCE 7:30 p.m.
Games and times subject to change
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Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from October 27, 2004
- Soul announce 2005 schedule - Philadelphia Soul
- Columbus Destroyers announce 2005 schedule - Columbus Destroyers
- Rattlers Shore Up Line: Sign Veteran Sharp, Re-Sign Amey - Arizona Rattlers
- Crush Release 2005 Schedule - Colorado Crush
- Rattlers Release 2005 Schedule - Arizona Rattlers
- Gladiators 2005 schedule announced - Las Vegas Gladiators
- SaberCats release 2005 schedule - San Jose SaberCats
- VooDoo announce 2005 schedule - New Orleans VooDoo
- Storm announce 2005 schedule, kick off season ticket sales - Tampa Bay Storm
- Kats Announce Schedule For 2005 Season - Nashville Kats
- Drive to ArenaBowl XIX begins weekend of January 28-30 - AFL I
- Wranglers, University of Texas sign lease agreement - Austin Wranglers
- Desperados announce 2005 schedule - Dallas Desperados
- American Media to publish first-ever Arena Football League preview magazine - AFL I
- VooDoo add NFL veteran Alvin Porter to defense - New Orleans VooDoo
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