Ted Turner didn't just own a baseball team—he changed how America watched sports. When he bought the Atlanta Braves, he turned a struggling franchise into a national obsession, and in the process, reshaped the entire sports media landscape.

Back then, catching a Braves game was as simple as flipping to TBS. For fans in Atlanta, it was even easier: turn the dial to Channel 17, watch baseball, and become a fan. Or, eventually, a superfan—thanks to what became known as a "superstation."

Turner, who passed away at 87, left behind a sports and broadcast world that looked nothing like the one he helped build. Today, catching a playoff game can feel like a scavenger hunt. You might need Prime Video for one game, Apple TV for another, Peacock for a third, and maybe even old-school cable if it lands on FS1. It's a far cry from the days when one channel brought the Braves straight to your living room.

And here's the thing: the Braves weren't always the powerhouse we remember. Before those 14 straight division titles in the '90s and 2000s, before the 1995 World Series championship, they were, frankly, awful. Between 1975 and 1990, they managed just three winning seasons and one playoff appearance. They lost 89 to 106 games in a brutal stretch from 1985 to 1990.

Turner went from media mogul to team owner during those lean years. The low point? His second season at the helm, when he tried to manage the team himself during a 16-game losing streak. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn quickly put an end to that experiment.

But Turner's vision was bigger than wins and losses. By beaming Braves games across the country on TBS, he turned a local team into a national fixture. In an era when sports media is more fragmented than ever, it's hard to imagine that the Atlanta Braves once held such a central place in America's sports culture. But thanks to Ted Turner, they did.