San Jose SaberCats

San Jose SaberCats
Established 1995 Folded 2015 Played in SAP Center in San Jose, California TheSanJoseSaberCats.com
League/conference affiliations
Arena Football League (1995–2008, 2011–2015) American Conference (1995–2008) Western Division (1995–2008) National Conference (2011–2015) Western Division (2011–2013) Pacific Division (2014–2015)
Current uniform
Team colors	Saber gold, coral green, platinum, black, and Navajo white
Nicknames	Cats
Personnel
Owner(s)	John Fry William Randy Fry David Fry Kathryn J. Kolder Darren Arbet
Team history
San Jose SaberCats (1995–2015)
Championships
League championships (4) 2002, 2004, 2007, 2015
Conference championships (3) 2007, 2008, 2015 Prior to 2005, the AFL did not have conference championship games
Division championships (10) Western: 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2015 Pacific: 2014, 2015
Playoff appearances (16)
1995, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015
Home arena(s)
SAP Center (1995–2008, 2011–2015) Stockton Arena (2015 playoffs and ArenaBowl XXVIII)

The San Jose SaberCats were a professional arena football team based in San Jose, California. The SaberCats had been members of the Arena Football League (AFL) since 1995 (the year in which the team was founded); and until 2015, they belonged to the AFL's National Conference. Over nineteen seasons of play, the SaberCats emerged as one of the Arena Football League's most successful franchises; at the conclusion of the 2015 season, the SaberCats boasted a lifetime regular season record of 198–98. Moreover, the SaberCats had won a total of four AFL Championships (2002, 2004, 2007, and 2015). Their lifetime postseason record stood at 19–12.

In the club's first four seasons (1995–1998), the team played just above mediocre, but still qualified for the playoffs three out of the four years, losing in the opening round each time under the guidance of Todd Shell. In 1999, the SaberCats appointed eventual owner-general manager Darren Arbet to the position of head coach. Under Arbet's guidance, the team's fortunes improved dramatically. In 2000, the SaberCats won a post-season game.

The SaberCats' run of success intensified in the 2000s; during that time, they won seven division titles and played in three American Conference championship games. In 2002, the team captured its first ArenaBowl championship by defeating the Arizona Rattlers in ArenaBowl XVI. In 2004, the SaberCats won a second championship by defeating the Rattlers in ArenaBowl XVIII. In 2007, they defeated the Columbus Destroyers in ArenaBowl XXI to capture a third championship. In 2008, the SaberCats returned to the ArenaBowl, only to fall to the Philadelphia Soul. In 2015, the SaberCats returned to the ArenaBowl, defeating the Jacksonville Sharks.

The 2009 demise of the AFL caused the SaberCats to take a two-year hiatus. They returned to the re-formed Arena Football League in 2011 (along with several other franchises). The SaberCats posted a disappointing record of 7–11 in the season of their return. The losing season was the organization's first since 1999 and remained the worst in franchise history. While the SaberCats' regular season performance improved greatly over the following three seasons (between 2012 and 2014, they went 38–16), their postseason performance did not; over that span, they went 1–3 (with all three losses coming at the hands of the Arizona Rattlers, who subsequently won the ArenaBowl in each season). In 2015, the SaberCats finished the regular season with a franchise-best record of 17–1. After dispatching the Portland Thunder easily in the first round of the playoffs, they again faced the Rattlers; this time, however, San Jose emerged victorious. For a list of all seasons, see List of San Jose SaberCats seasons

On November 12, 2015, the league announced the SaberCats would be ceasing operations due to "reasons unrelated to League operations." A statement from the league indicated that the AFL was working to secure new, long-term owners for the franchise,^[1] but no such group has emerged. In 2019, it was announced that the Indoor Football League would be expanding to Oakland with of the Oakland Panthers, bringing arena football back to the Bay Area for the first time since the SaberCats demise. The Panthers ended up moving to the SAP Center itself in 2022 as the Bay Area Panthers.