Bruce McNall

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Bruce McNall
Born (1950-04-17) April 17, 1950 (age 74)
Arcadia, California, United States
NationalityAmerican
EducationUCLA
Occupation(s)sports teams owner, racehorse owner, film producer
Known forOwned the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League (NHL) and the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League (CFL)
Board member ofLos Angeles Kings
Toronto Argonauts

Bruce Patrick McNall (born April 17, 1950) is an American former Thoroughbred racehorse owner, sports executive, and convicted felon who once owned the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League (NHL) and the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League (CFL).

McNall claimed to have made his initial fortune as a coin collector, though Metropolitan Museum of Art director Thomas Hoving claimed he smuggled art antiquities[1] as the partner of Robert E. Hecht.[2] In the 1980s McNall produced several Hollywood movies, including The Manhattan Project and Weekend at Bernie's.

McNall bought a 25 percent stake in the Kings from

NHL salaries
throughout the 1990s.

In 1992, McNall was elected chairman of the

NHL Board of Governors—the league's second-highest post.[3]

In 1991, McNall, Gretzky and actor/comedian

Raghib "Rocket" Ismail away from the National Football League by signing him to a four-year contract for a then-unheard-of $18.2 million. Although Ismail led the Argonauts to the 1991 Grey Cup
championship, he returned to the U.S. after two seasons in Toronto.

At one point, he also owned the finest copy of the most expensive baseball card, Honus Wagner's 1909 T206 card.[4]

Thoroughbred racing

McNall also owned

race horses and in 1990 won France's most prestigious race, the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, with the colt Saumarez. He also owned a 50% interest in Trempolino when the French colt won the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in 1987. He was also a partner with Wayne Gretzky in the colt Golden Pheasant who won races in Europe as well as the Arlington Million in the U.S. and the Japan Cup at Tokyo Racecourse
.

Decline

In December 1993, McNall defaulted on a $90 million loan, and Bank of America threatened to force the Kings into bankruptcy unless he sold the team. He sold controlling interest in the Kings in May 1994 and resigned as chairman of the board of governors, though he still remained as president and governor of the Kings for a time.[5] Shortly afterward, he granted an interview to Vanity Fair in which he admitted smuggling many of his prized coins out of foreign countries. His claim of graduating from the University of Oxford was also debunked.[6]

On December 14, 1993, McNall pleaded guilty to five counts of conspiracy and fraud, and admitted to bilking six banks out of $236 million over a ten-year period.[3] He was sentenced to 70 months in prison. Immediately after his conviction, it emerged that his free-spending ways had put the Kings in serious financial jeopardy. They were ultimately forced into bankruptcy in 1995.[7] The financial problems from the McNall era plagued the Kings for several years afterward.

McNall was released in 2001 after his sentence was reduced by 13 months for good behavior. He was on probation until 2006. McNall remained on good terms with many of his former players, with Wayne Gretzky,

Dick Zanuck was always there, Tom Hanks would write to me, Bert Fields would send his books, and Barry Kemp
wrote long letters. They kept me going."

McNall's autobiography, Fun While It Lasted: My Rise and Fall in the Land of Fame and Fortune, was published by Hyperion Books in 2003.[9] In 2004, McNall became co-chair of A-Mark Entertainment.[10] He took a role with Peter M. Hoffman at Seven Arts Pictures in 2003[11] and is credited on Nick Cassavetes' 2012 movie, Yellow.[12]

References

  1. ^ 1996 - "False Impressions" by Thomas Hoving
  2. ISBN 0-671-73854-2
  3. ^
    ISBN 1-57028-219-6
    .
  4. ^ Bob Pool, Honus Wagner card sells for $2.35 million, Los Angeles Times, February 28, 2007.
  5. ^ Hofmeister, Sallie. "The Hard Fall of a Salesman". New York Times. Retrieved January 24, 2008.
  6. ^ McClintick, David. "Final Exposure". Vanity Fair. Retrieved November 19, 2010.
  7. ^ Los Angeles Kings Communications Department (2002). Los Angeles Kings 2002–03 Media Guide. Los Angeles Kings. p. 8.
  8. ^ Garber, Greg (March 5, 2001). "Four years of Club Fed anything but relaxing for McNall". ESPN.
  9. OCLC 50559958. Retrieved October 27, 2022 – via Internet Archive text collection
    .
  10. ^ "A-Mark Entertainment | Management". amarkentertainment.com. October 27, 2022. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
  11. ^ Fleming, Michael (May 15, 2003). "Money man McNall gets back to business". Variety. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
  12. ^ "Yellow movie website cast list". Archived from the original on October 28, 2012.
Preceded by Chairman of the NHL Board of Governors
1992–1994 		Succeeded by
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