Hockey's Mcnall Is King Of Road In L.A. -- Kings Owner Enjoys Fruits Of His Fortune

LOS ANGELES - His office sprawls across the sixth floor of a Century City office building, a six-foot aquarium built into one wall, a huge collage of mementos from his varied businesses above his desk.

It is not trite to say that Bruce McNall is on top of the world. The man who brought the Los Angeles Kings from obscurity to opulence estimates the net worth of his businesses at $150 million, yet is smart enough to enjoy what it is he does at least as much as the fortune it has brought him.

"My attitude is I came in with nothing, I'm going to go out with nothing, and I'm going to have a good time in between," said the Kings' owner, born 40 years ago to a middle-class Venice, Calif., family. "I've always said I've never seen a hearse following a Brinks truck, and I'm not going to be in a situation where I don't enjoy the fruits of my labor."

"He's always had this acquisitive nature," said his mother, Shirley McNall of Studio City.

She isn't kidding. Shirley McNall says her son was putting together sentences before his first birthday, was reading at 4, and was a whiz at Monopoly by age 5.

"He seemed to go for the high-priced properties," she said, "and he always seemed to get them."

In his teens, McNall built a nest egg by developing expertise in ancient coins, acquiring them, then selling them for a profit. By his mid-20s, his dealings were in the six-figure range.

The Kings are the perfect example of the Midas touch of this antiquities expert. He bought the team in chunks from Lakers owner Dr. Jerry Buss.

For a total investment of no more than $20 million, McNall inherited an NHL franchise weak on the ice (12 games below .500) and at the gate (average home attendance of 11,667).

Three years later, the $35 million McNall spent on the Kings and Gretzky looks like a steal. Though the average price of a ticket at the Forum has soared from $11.80 in 1987-88 to $27.40 this season, average attendance this season was 15,690, 98 percent of capacity.

The team's season-ticket sales have quadrupled to 12,500, and the former financial losers will make a profit this year.

All things considered, McNall says the team is worth at least five times what he paid for it.

"If an expansion franchise in Tampa or Ottawa is $50 million, what's the same franchise worth if it's in Los Angeles or a big media center? Seventy-five or 80?" he said. "Then there's Gretzky. What's he worth? I wouldn't take $100 million. I have had some offers in that ballpark."