The Alaska Football League announced Thursday that the Peninsula Panthers will be a developmental team in their first year of existence, playing two exhibition games during the 2017 season.

Abe Hernandez, owner of the Alaska Football League, said in a released statement Wednesday that the Panthers coaches and staff worked hard to form a team in 2017, but do not have the number of signed players needed for a full schedule.

Hernandez said the hope is the exhibition games increase the popularity of the Panthers, making recruitment easier for the 2018 season.

Dates and locations of the games will be released in early July.