Rock veterans give Kiss of life to LA sports scene

AFTER YEARS of sticking its logo on all manner of T-shirts, dolls, drinkware and accessories, the rock band Kiss has stamped it on an entire arena football team as well.

And the creation of the Los Angeles Kiss Arena Football League team did not go undocumented. A reality television show about the effort, 4th and Loud, will premiere in the United States on August 12.

It wasn’t crass commercialism that motivated the fire-breathing band, though. The band’s irrepressible bass player, Gene Simmons, says he was filling a civic need.

‘‘Los Angeles is the No 1 media city in America and it doesn’t have football?’’ he said. ‘‘You’re kidding me. So opportunity knocks, you answer the door and you give people bang for the buck.’’

That bang includes, he says, the blasting brand of hard rock that put the band on the map 40 years ago, and more. ‘‘We have guys who rappel from the ceiling, we have extreme bikers, rock bands, pyrotechnics, girls in cages,’’ he says.

‘‘We wanted to create something that was very much keeping with Kiss,’’ adds lead singer Paul Stanley. ‘‘We want to envelop you and pummel you.’’

The showbiz aspect is something natural to sport, Simmons says.

‘‘A long time ago, people figured out in boxing that it wasn’t just about the boxing; they put girls up there carrying the [round] numbers out there. Who gets the biggest hand, the boxers or the girl carrying the number?

‘‘If you’re going to do something, go big or go home,’’ Simmons says. ‘‘We don’t do anything small. Whether it’s our shows, our merchandising, our restaurant chain, whatever it is, you got to do big.’’