Four things to watch for as LA Kiss kicks off second season at Honda Center
After kissing off an unimpressive inaugural season that ended with a 3-15 record, executives with the Anaheim-based LA Kiss indoor football team are hoping fans will embrace some subtle changes planned for the second season that kicks off Friday in Portland, Ore.
“Our main focus is to win games,” said Schuyler Hoversten, president of the LA Kiss and a co-owner of the team with legendary rockers Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley of the band Kiss. “We feel that once the team starts performing the way it should, then we will have a truly great product,” Hoversten said. “We want to provide our fans with an infusion of entertainment and sports that you can’t find anywhere else in the pro-sports community.” LA Kiss takes to the field for its first home game on April 11 at the Honda Center against the Las Vegas Outlaws, a new team owned by Vince Neil, lead singer of the heavy-metal band Mötley Crüe.
The match, Hoversten said, “has the makings of a rock ’n’ roll rivalry.” Along with a run at trying to win more games, Hoversten said there are four things fans should watch for this season:
Celebrity sightings on the rise
Stars from popular television shows and movies will help set the stage in attracting fans to the LA Kiss this year, Hoversten said. Comedian George Lopez and Emmy Award-winning actor Eric Stonestreet, from the ABC sitcom “Modern Family,” are already confirmed to pop in at the games and possibly participate during the halftime shows.
“The best part about integrating celebrities is the surprise angle,” Hoversten said, declining to drop any other names.
LA Kiss logged some of the highest attendance rates last year for the Arena Football League, averaging 10,000 fans per game at the Honda Center, Hoversten said. The team has a 10-year contract to play at the venue.
While not offering any clues, Hoversten also said that fans should expect to see more stunts, dancers and – most importantly – music performances.
“We’re not going to take our foot off the gas pedal when it comes to game-day entertainment,” he said.
Miss a game? Catch one on TV
Five of LA Kiss’ nine home games in Anaheim will be nationally broadcast on cable television stations ESPN2 and CBS Sports Network. That’s up from only three games shown on TV last year.
The reason for the increase? “It came from the power and name recognition of our brand,” Hoversten said. “It wasn’t our winning percentage from last year, that’s for sure.”
ESPN2 is scheduled to run LA Kiss’ home season opener against Las Vegas on April 11 and a game against the Philadelphia Soul on June 20.
CBS Sports Network will broadcast the team’s games on April 25 and June 27, both against the Arizona Rattlers, along with a game on July 18 against the Las Vegas Outlaws.
Reality show takes a bow – at least for now
Behind-the-scenes highs and lows of the LA Kiss were chronicled on “4th and Loud,” a reality television show that aired last summer on AMC.
Arguments between the owners and coaches were on full display for viewers, along with a turnover of nearly 90 players that passed through the indoor football team.
AMC dropped the unscripted show and opted not to renew this year. However, Hoversten said that the show’s production company, Thinkfactory Media, is marketing the concept to other networks, with hopes that the series will be green-lighted to return next year.
Counting on a quality quarterback
Part of the team’s instability last year stemmed from a constant rotation of players and, most notably, quarterbacks who left due to injury or lack of performance.
Team officials are now placing their bets on Adrian McPherson, who played two seasons at Florida State University and went on to become a fifth-round selection for the the New Orleans Saints during the 2005 NFL Draft. He has since played for a series of teams in the AFL and Canadian Football League, spending last season with the Calgary Stampeders.
And, AFL Hall of Famer Bob McMillen is back as the team’s coach, despite disputes with the LA Kiss ownership that were publicized on the “Fourth and Loud” reality show.
“Just like in the NFL, the quarterback in an integral position, but more so in the AFL because so many plays come down to passing,” Hoversten said. “We hope to be able to keep our guys healthy this year and get them to quickly gel as a team so we can make it to the postseason.”
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