Uh Oh: Power Goes Out at the Super Bowl

Power went out at the Superdome early in the third quarter of the Super Bowl, leading to a 35-minute delay with the Baltimore Ravens leading the San Francisco 49ers 28-6 on Sunday.

About half the stadium was abruptly plunged into darkness.

The reason remains unclear, though announcers cited a power surge and "electrical power issues."  Apparently an outside power source coming into the stadium went dead, though there was no immediate official explanation.

Here are some photos from the scene:

Half the lights are out in the Superdome during a power outage in the second half of the NFL Super Bowl XLVII football game between the San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, Feb. 3, 2013, in New Orleans. (Photo: AP)

The Superdome is seen after the lights went out during the second half of NFL Super Bowl XLVII football game Beyonce performs during the halftime show of Sunday, Feb. 3, 2013, in New Orleans. (Photo: AP)

Baltimore Ravens players look around the Superdome after the lights went out during the second half of NFL Super Bowl XLVII football game Sunday, Feb. 3, 2013, in New Orleans. (Photo: AP)

Field judge Craig Wrolstad stands on the field after the lights went out during the second half of NFL Super Bowl XLVII football game Sunday, Feb. 3, 2013, in New Orleans. (Photo: AP)

The teams remained on the field, with players stretching and trying to stay warmed up, including the Ravens' Joe Flacco and Ed Reed. Cheerleaders even kept going through their routines, and fans were asked to stay in their seats.

Some did "the wave" to pass the time, the Associated Press adds.  Other players milled around on the sidelines, some took a seat on the bench, others on the field.  A few of the Ravens threw footballs around.

Play finally resumed with 13:22 left in the third quarter.

Here's video of the unexpected turn of events:

Commenters took to Twitter immediately:

(Twitter/@RobSchneider)

(Twitter/@ValentineShow)

(Twitter/@Worrier)

(Twitter/@ColtonLHaynes)

(Twitter/@OhSaratopia)

​UPDATE:

Officials of the utility company supplying power to the Superdome say the Super Bowl outage occurred when sensing equipment detected an "abnormality" in the system.

A statement from Entergy and the Superdome said Sunday that a piece of equipment monitoring electrical load sensed the abnormality and opened a breaker, partially cutting power.

The statement said backup generators kicked in before full power could be restored.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.  This post has been updated.

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