Bruce McNall | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1950-04-17)April 17, 1950 (age 75) Arcadia, California, United States |
| Education | UCLA |
| Occupations | Sports executive, film producer |
| Known for | Owned theLos Angeles Kings of theNational Hockey League (NHL) and theToronto Argonauts of theCanadian Football League (CFL) |
| Board member of | Los Angeles Kings Toronto Argonauts |
Bruce Patrick McNall (born April 17, 1950) is an American former sports executive, and convicted felon who once owned theLos Angeles Kings of theNational Hockey League (NHL) and theToronto Argonauts of theCanadian Football League (CFL).
McNall claimed to have made his initial fortune as acoin collector, thoughMetropolitan Museum of Art directorThomas Hoving claimed he smuggled art antiquities[1] as the partner ofRobert E. Hecht.[2] In the 1980s McNall produced several Hollywood movies, includingThe Manhattan Project andWeekend at Bernie's.
McNall bought a 25 percent stake in the Kings fromJerry Buss in 1986, and bought an additional 24 percent in 1987 to become the team's largest shareholder. He was named team president that September, and purchased Buss's remaining shares in March 1988.[3]
In 1992, McNall was elected chairman of theNHL Board of Governors, the league's second-highest post.[3]
At one point, he also owned the finest copy of the most expensivebaseball card,Honus Wagner's 1909 T206 card.[4]
In December 1993, McNall defaulted on a $90 million loan, andBank 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]
In early 1994, he granted an interview toVanity Fair in which he admitted smuggling many of his prized coins out of foreign countries; his admissions led to the shutting down of his numismatics firm, Numismatic Fine Arts, that year by the FBI (including seizure of computers and printed documents from NFA's offices in the Century City office complex). His claim of graduating from theUniversity of Oxford was also debunked.[6]
Later that year, McNall sold the Argos to league television partnerTSN in May 1994, a sale delayed byJohn Candy's death that March. The team had lost several million dollars over four years, and McNall concluded he could not justify those losses as an absentee owner 3,000 miles away.[7]
On December 14, 1994, McNall pleaded guilty to five counts of conspiracy and fraud, and admitted to bilking[clarification needed] 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.[8]
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, withWayne Gretzky,Rob Blake,Luc Robitaille and others visiting him inprison. Gretzky even refused to allow the Kings to retire his number 99 until McNall could attend the ceremony. McNall also attended Robitaille's uniform retirement ceremony in 2007.[9]
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.[10] In 2004, McNall became co-chair of A-Mark Entertainment.[11] He took a role with Peter M. Hoffman atSeven Arts Pictures in 2003[12] and is credited onNick Cassavetes' 2012 movie,Yellow.[13]
| Preceded by | Chairman of the NHL Board of Governors 1992–1994 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
