Just when you think KISS had done everything it could to sell out, well, you were wrong. The glam rockers have lent their name, and their money, to a new cause: an Arena Football League team. Yes, Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley and company are the proud owners of an Arena Football League squad that be calling Anaheim home and will be playing its games at none other than the Honda Center. Want to know what's worse? The team isn't Anaheim. No, No. They're called the LA KISS. What can we say, this is one arena they might have trouble filling.
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For a band that's licensed its name to literally anything imaginable (cough, casket, cough), this shouldn't be too much of a surprise.
“What we want to see happen is to take the excitement that is AFL football and bring entertainment to it too,'' Paul Stanley, the group's guitarist, said a news conference in Orlando, Fla., site of the league's championship game, Arena Bowl XXVI.
A limited number of season tickets for the nine-game home schedule priced at $99 went on sale today. All inaugural season ticket holders will be invited to a free KISS concert to be held at Honda Center in 2014.
The band's foray into AFL ownership, as wonky as it sounds, isn't the first time a rocker has thrown his money into a team in this league. That honor goes to Jon Bon Jovi with the Philadelphia Soul.
But the bigger question is this: has KISS met a marketing opportunity it didn't like? What are the promotional nights going to be: free KISS t-shirts for the first 5,000 in attendance? Or how about free KISS action figures with you favorite band member in football swag? Will the cheerleaders dress like the cover of Love Gun? Whenever they get a safety, will they play “Deuce”?
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For KISS, this is another brilliant marketing scheme to keep its pretty name in the news and why we're obliged to write something like this. On one hand, you have to hand it to them for not only investing in a football team, but to have the team use KISS as its name is fucking genius. But, and this is a HUGE but, this could be a sign of the apocalypse.
There's no doubt that the Honda Center may as well rename itself KISS Center during football games. For those of you unfamiliar with European soccer (if that's the case, shame on you), almost every club has a sponsor's name on their unifrom. This melding of corporations and clubs has made soccer much more lucrative, but has also made the game less accessible for fans to see live. Hopefully this won't be the case with KISS setting a semi dangerous precedent for other corporations (yes, KISS is a corporation at this point) melding and literally taking over sports franchises.
As crazy as the notion of KISS and the KISS Army going to indoor football game is, at absolute minimum, will be absolutely hilarious. The tailgating before every game will be an OC Weekly slideshow waiting to happen. Fans trying to stand out in the face painting game will be forced to take things to a whole new level.
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Daniel Kohn is a writer based in Southern California. With bylines in an assortment of outlets, Kohn primarily specializes in music with other interests ranging from sports to food. As a transplant, Kohn loves the beautiful weather and is glad he no longer has to deal with brutal winters. If you see him, say hi and of course, he’s always willing to down a beer or two…if you’re paying.