History of the Arena Football League in Los Angeles

Before the Arena Football League collapsed after the 2008 season, the league included the Los Angeles Cobras and the Los Angeles Avengers. The Cobras played one season at the Los Angeles Sports Arena before folding, mostly due to lack of attendance. The Avengers played their home games at the Staples Center until they folded as well. The AFL was revived in 2010 and returned to the Los Angeles area in 2014 with a new team, the Los Angeles Kiss. The team, owned by a group that included Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, members of the rock band KISS, played in Anaheim at the Honda Center until folding in 2016.[1]

The Kiss was the third AFL team to represent Los Angeles, the fourth to represent Southern California, and the second to play at the Honda Center. Los Angeles' first AFL team was the Los Angeles Cobras, which called the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena home for the team's only season of 1988, in which they finished 5–6–1, making the playoffs but losing to the Chicago Bruisers in the first round. Eight years later, the Anaheim Piranhas moved from Las Vegas, beginning play for the 1996 season at the Honda Center (known as the Arrowhead Pond at the time). Their first season saw them finish 9–5 and make the playoffs (losing to the Tampa Bay Storm in the first round), but their second season saw them finish 2–12 and fold after year's end, most likely because of their owner, C. David Baker, being named the AFL's commissioner and wanting to focus on that.

Los Angeles' longest-running foray in arena football was the Los Angeles Avengers, which called the Staples Center home during their nine-year run from 2000 until the league's suspension of operations in 2008. During that time, the team made five playoff appearances and won one division title (in 2005), though only winning one of those playoff games.

Los Angeles Cobras (1988)

On March 16, 1988, it was announced that team would be nicknamed the Cobras, as well as the introduction of head coach Ray Willsey.[2] The Cobras played their home games at the Los Angeles Sports Arena, which they shared with the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association. The team's logo consisted of an interlocking "LA" in which the left upright of the "A" was formed by the hooded head and "neck" of a cobra.

The team debuted April 30, 1988 against the New York Knights.[3] The Cobras started the season 0-3,[4] but finished the season 5-3-1, clinching a playoff spot.[5]

Despite a lineup that featured former NFL all-pro receiver Cliff Branch, ex-UCLA quarterback Matt Stevens[6] and future Arena Football Hall of Famer Gary Mullen, Los Angeles drew dismal crowds: just 7,507 per game, second-worst in the AFL.[5] The Cobras lost in the semifinals to the Chicago Bruisers, 29-16.[7] It turned out to be their last game ever as the Cobras folded after the 1988 season, temporarily cutting the league down.

Anaheim Piranhas (1994–97)

The Piranhas played their home games at Arrowhead Pond, also the home of the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim of the National Hockey League. The team was not an overwhelmingly successful draw in the high-overhead Southern California market and folded after the conclusion of the 1997 season.[8] The arena (now known as the Honda Center) would once again be the home of an AFL franchise with the launching of the Los Angeles Kiss in 2014.

Los Angeles Avengers (2000–08)

The Los Angeles Avengers played their home games at the Staples Center, which is also the current home to the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League, the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association, the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association. The team began play in the 2000 season. The Avengers competed in the Western Division of the American Conference. Since its inception in 2000, the Avengers had competed in postseason play five times. The Avengers earned American Conference wildcard playoff berths in 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2007, and won the American Conference Western Division Championship in 2005.

The Avengers franchise was owned by Casey Wasserman, grandson of the MCA head Lew Wasserman.

On April 10, 2005, Avengers defensive lineman Al Lucas was injured attempting to make a tackle and later died at a nearby hospital. It is the only fatal injury incurred during a game in the history of the league. The Al Lucas Hero Award is named after him.

The Avengers announced the termination of the program on April 20, 2009 after nine years of operation. Four years later, it was announced that the Los Angeles KISS would join the AFL starting in the 2014 season making them the fourth team to set up shop in the Los Angeles area.

The Avengers' official mascot was a superhero-like character named T.D.[9]

Los Angeles Kiss (2014–16)

On August 15, 2013, it was announced that Kiss (who performed at halftime of ArenaBowl XXVI) had purchased a share of an AFL expansion team set to begin play in 2014. Kiss lead members Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, their manager Doc McGhee, and league veteran Brett Bouchy jointly own the team.[10]

On September 10, 2013, Kiss began assembling their first roster, trading their first pick in the dispersal draft of Chicago Rush and Utah Blaze players, to the Iowa Barnstormers in exchange for quarterback J. J. Raterink.[11] With their second and third picks, they drafted wide receiver Chase Deadder and linebacker Antwan Marsh. On September 17, 2013, they named Bob McMillen, the 2013 AFL Coach of the Year, the franchise's first head coach.[12] On September 18, the Kiss hired former Los Angeles Dodgers business executive Schuyler Hoversten as its inaugural president.[13]

The games were themed to echo a Kiss music concert: games opened with an electric guitar rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner; there was "loud pyrotechnics and music" throughout the game; "the Kiss logo is plastered everywhere: on the arena football field, on the end zone and on the flame-emblazoned jerseys in the stands. ... [There is a] Kiss Girls dance-squad in black leather. ... The team's artificial turf field was also colored in a unique silver color scheme.

On Tuesday, August 12, 2014, AMC premiered 4th and Loud, a reality documentary series focusing on the team's inaugural season.[14]

On October 30, 2015, Bob McMillen stepped down as head coach and general manager of the Kiss. [15] Shortly thereafter, the Kiss hired former Arizona Rattlers team president Joe Windham as their president and also hired former San Jose SaberCats player and assistant coach Omarr Smith as their second head coach in team history.

The Kiss made their inaugural playoff appearance on August 7, 2016, facing the Cleveland Gladiators in the first round of the AFL Playoffs. The game was played at the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego, California, as their home arena, the Honda Center, played host to the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus and a WWE RAW broadcast that weekend. The Kiss lost to the Gladiators 56-52 in front of 4,692 fans in San Diego. [16] Shortly after the game, team captain Donavan Morgan announced his retirement.

The Kiss ceased answering their phones during the 2016 offseason and its roster was liquidated that October. In a long-form piece released in Sports Illustrated in April 2017, it was revealed that the band had pulled its support from the team shortly after the end of the season, privately stating they had done all they could to keep the franchise alive. Minority owners attempted to find new investors to keep the franchise afloat but were unsuccessful.[17]

The KISS represented the last team to attempt to fill a void in professional football that had existed for 21 years since the Los Angeles Rams left for St. Louis in 1995; the KISS's folding coincided with the Rams' return to southern California.

References
  1. Rovell, Darren (August 15, 2013). "KISS brings football to Los Angeles". ESPN. Retrieved August 15, 2013.
  2. White, Lonnie (March 17, 1988). "Arena Football : Ray Willsey Will Coach L.A.'s Cobras". www.latimes.com. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 23, 2013.
  3. White, Lonnie (April 30, 2013). "Cobras, Arena Football Make L.A. Debut Tonight". www.latimes.com. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 23, 2013.
  4. White, =Lonnie (May 21, 1988). "Now, Matt Stevens' Job Is to Turn the Cobras Around". www.latimes.com. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 23, 2013.
  5. White, Lonnie (July 23, 1988). "L.A. Is a Tough Arena for Indoor Football : Cobras Are Still Making Some Gains Despite Competition for Sports Dollar". www.latimes.com. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 23, 2013.
  6. White, Lonnie (April 6, 1988). "Branch, Stevens Head Cobra Picks". www.latimes.com. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 23, 2013.
  7. "Box Score LA @ Chicago July 23, 1988". www.arenafan.com. ArenaFan. Retrieved September 23, 2013.
  8. McKibben, Dave (November 20, 1997). "After Two Seasons, Piranhas Are Folding". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 6, 2014.
  9. LA Avengers: Kids Archived 2006-03-27 at the Wayback Machine
  10. "Arena Football League, KISS Bring Pro Football Back to Los Angeles". Arena Football League. August 15, 2013. Archived from the original on February 9, 2017. Retrieved August 15, 2013.
  11. "Iowa Barnstormers trade key offensive piece as part of Arena League shuffle". www.desmoinesregister.com. www.desmoinesregister.com. September 10, 2013. Archived from the original on September 18, 2013. Retrieved September 18, 2013.
  12. "LA Kiss hires Bob McMillen as coach of AFL team". www.sacbee.com. The Sacramento Bee. September 17, 2013. Archived from the original on September 18, 2013. Retrieved September 18, 2013.
  13. "KISS Hire Former Dodgers Executive as Inaugural President". Arena Football League. September 18, 2013. Archived from the original on December 8, 2013. Retrieved September 18, 2013.
  14. "TCA: Kiss Originals Shout It Out Loud — AMC's '4th And Loud' Is Arena Rock That Will "Pummel You"". Deadline Hollywood. July 11, 2014. Retrieved August 13, 2014.
  15. McMillen Steps Down as Head Coach of KISS, ArenaFootball.com, October 30, 2105
  16. LA KISS Eliminated From Postseason With Loss To Cleveland Archived 2016-08-16 at the Wayback Machine, LA KISS website, August 7, 2016
  17. Bledsoe, Neal (April 7, 2017). "KISS the Team Goodbye". Yahoo! Sports.
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