Prepare to have your mind blown by something overwhelmingly American: There will soon be a professional football team bearing the name of rock band KISS.
The Arena Football League announced on Thursday that an expansion team had been granted to a group of investors that included KISS members Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, and that the team will be called the LA KISS. It's important to note that although the team will be playing in Anaheim, a city in the greater Los Angeles area (and host to the Los Angeles Angels baseball team), it will not be the Los Angeles KISS...simply the LA KISS. The team will debut in March with the new AFL season, playing at the Honda Center.
"As a fast-paced, high-action band, this partnership with the AFL was an obvious fit for us," Simmons said. "Attending an LA KISS game in 2014 will be similar to a live KISS show, with thrilling, heart-pounding action."
And, fans who buy season tickets will be able to compare the two experiences, as the band has promised a KISS concert to everyone who purchases a ticket package. With prices starting at just $99, with a KISS show thrown in, that's not too shabby a deal.
The team will use the iconic KISS logo as it's own, although there's no word yet on whether team uniforms will share the band's black-and-silver color scheme. Also no word yet on whether there will be a mascot.
Stanley said he's a fan of the AFL as a league.
"The whole idea of an alternative to what has perhaps become a corporate sport is very intriguing, and resonates with us," he said. "We've always tried to be a band that relates to everybody, and the AFL is built on that whole premise."