After rocking the world for 40 years, the band KISS is ready for some football.
The Arena Football League announced on Wednesday that an expansion franchise has been awarded to a group that includes KISS founding members Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley.
The team will be called the LA KISS and will play beginning in March of 2014 in Anaheim, Calif.
"As a fast-paced, high-action band this partnership with the AFL was an obvious fit for us," Simmons said in a statement. "With Arena Football, you are much closer to the action - sitting in the front row is like putting a folding chair on the hash mark of an NFL game - and it's one of the only sports where you can experience this level of intensity. Attending an LA KISS game in 2014 will be similar to a live KISS show, with thrilling, heart pounding action."
In fact, all inaugural LA KISS season-ticket holders will be invited to a free KISS concert at the Honda Center, the team's home, in 2014, according to the AFL release.
Los Angeles has not had professional football in five years, the release said.
"This is a great business venture for KISS. They are lending their name to a sport which is destined for big things this year. It's fantastic to have a team named after the band and it is a privilege to be able to support LA and bring the experience home," said KISS Manager Doc McGhee of McGhee Entertainment, who worked to facilitate the partnership.
The team's official website is lakissfootbal.com.
"The whole idea of an alternative to what has perhaps become a corporate sport is very intriguing, and resonates with us," Stanley told USA TODAY Sports by phone on Wednesday. "We've always tried to be a band that relates to everybody, and the AFL is built on that whole premise."
Added Simmons, "There's been a lot of attention to detail, to nuances, so that people don't think this is a rock band in football helmets. This is real football, and this is good for the game."
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