Look What You Made Them Do: LA Kings Cover Taylor Swift Banner At Staples Center To End 'Curse'
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — There will be a "Blank Space" at Los Angeles Kings games where Taylor Swift's honorary banner hangs.
After struggling through the beginning of their 2019 season — along with a rough last few years — the L.A. Kings have resorted to a fan conspiracy theory to help win them some games.
In efforts to help bring home the Stanley Cup, Kings fans initiated a demand to take down the honorary banner raised for Swift's record number of sold-out performances at Staples Center, saying it has cursed the team.
The Kings covered Swift's banner before their home opener against the Nashville Predators on Saturday and will continue to do so for every home game of the season.
The banner was raised Aug. 21, 2015 after her record 16th sold-out concert at Staples Center.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the red, white, and black banner has been an eyesore for many Kings fans and those fans don't find it a coincidence that the Kings have failed to win a playoff series since it went up.
In the 2018 season, the team finished with the worst record in the Western Conference and second-worst in the league.
"The connection to our fans is our highest priority and through our engagement, they have made it clear that the banner shouldn't be part of their Kings game experience," Kings and AEG Sports representative Michael Altieri told The Times. "We didn't see an issue in covering it for our games and in fact see it as an opportunity to show our fans that we hear them."
Staples Center President Lee Zeidman said there are no plans to remove the banner and the decision to cover it during Kings games was made solely by the team, The Times wrote.
