Ted Turner’s wildest in-stadium Braves promotions, ranked

Ted Turner died on Wednesday at 87, forsaking a formidable legacy as one of many pioneers in cable tv.

The CNN founder additionally had a protracted historical past in sports activities as proprietor of the Atlanta Braves and Atlanta Hawks. He additionally owned the NHL’s Atlanta Thrashers, who relocated to Winnipeg in 2011, and World Championship Wrestling, a major competitor to WWE in the mid-1990s.

In 1976, Turner purchased a Braves franchise that averaged roughly 6,600 fans per game the earlier season and shortly labored to make the staff an attraction. The issue, nevertheless, was the franchise misplaced so much, reaching the postseason simply as soon as since relocating from Milwaukee to Atlanta in 1966. It wasn’t till 1991 that the Braves grew to become a perennial playoff contender.

Turner, a embellished yachtsman, needed to get inventive to extend attendance, and he and his staff actually did not lack for concepts. Beneath are his 5 finest promotional occasions ranked in reverse order:

5. Karl Wallenda’s tightrope throughout stadium

On April 24, 1977, Turner borrowed from the division rival
Philadelphia Phillies‘ playbook, amongst others, by welcoming Wallenda, who had beforehand tightroped throughout Veterans Stadium and Busch Stadium II. He carried out the identical death-defying stunt in Atlanta with the Los Angeles Dodgers in town.

In an interview in 1978, a Braves workers member recalled Turner making an attempt to name off the act the day of due to excessive winds, however Wallenda carried out as deliberate. The identical could not be stated for the Braves, who misplaced 16-6 amid a 17-game shedding streak, the franchise’s longest since shifting to Atlanta. The loss prompted Turner’s notorious one-game stint as supervisor. (h/t Stathead)