Bruce McNall

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Bruce Patrick McNall (born April 17, 1950 in Arcadia, California) is a former American sports executive who once owned the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League (NHL) and the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League {CFL).

McNall made his initial fortune as a coin collector. He purchased the Kings from Jerry Buss in 1987 then shocked the sports world on August 9, 1988 when he acquired the NHL's biggest star, Wayne Gretzky, along with Marty McSorley and Mike Krushelnyski, from the Edmonton Oilers for Jimmy Carson, Martin Gelinas, several first-round draft choices and $15 million US. McNall raised Gretzky's annual salary from less than $1 million to $3 million, which, in turn, triggered a dramatic rise in NHL salaries throughout the 1990's.

In 1991, McNall, Gretzky and actor/comedian John Candy purchased the CFL's Toronto Argonauts. Prior to the 1991 season, McNall enticed 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 championships, he returned to the U.S. after two seasons in Toronto.

McNall also owned Thoroughbred race horses and in 1990 won France's most prestigious race, the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, with the colt Saumarez. At one point, he also owned the finest copy of the most expensive baseball card, Honus Wagner's 1909 T206 card.^[1]

By the mid-1990s, McNall's business empire was collapsing. Fraudulent transactions worth about $200 million were uncovered by federal investigators, and in 1996, McNall was sentenced to 70 months in a federal prison for his crimes.

Nonetheless, McNall remained on good terms with many of his former players, with Gretzky, Rob Blake, Luc Robitaille and others visiting him in prison. 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.[1]

McNall was released in 2001 after his sentence was reduced by 13 months for good behavior. He was on probation until 2006. He credited his celebrity friends with supported him. Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn visited, "Michael Eisner, who suggested I write the book and bought it, always took my call", while "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 has since joined Seven Arts Pictures.[2]

McNall has written an autobiography titled Fun While It Lasted: My Rise and Fall in the Land of Fame and Fortune.

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