NFL: Fans left in the dark at Steelers-49ers game

SAN FRANCISCO - The San Francisco 49ers-Pittsburgh Steelers Monday Night Football game started after a 20-minute delay because of a power outage at Candlestick Park. A second power outage caused the game to stop with just a few minutes gone in the second quarter. It ended well after midnight.

Lights throughout the stadium first went off about 25 minutes before the scheduled kickoff. The public address system stopped working and fans were left in the dark until an emergency light came on in the far corner of the stadium.

A 49ers spokesman said transformers appeared to fail outside the stadium. Engineers were working to switch the power to backup generators.

Candlestick Park is one of the oldest in the league. The outage is likely to rekindle the debate over the need for a new stadium.