Ted Turner died today at 87. The tributes will celebrate CNN, the Braves, the superstation that changed American television, and the America's Cup. All of it is deserved.
But there is a soccer chapter in his legacy that belongs to Atlanta specifically, and it is not making it into the obituaries.
In 1978, Turner quietly invested $1.5 million to bring professional soccer back to Atlanta. He denied any involvement to the press while his lawyers were already filing the partnership paperwork with the NASL. The league voted 22 to 2 to block the deal because they were terrified of his superstation. He educated them, won the unanimous approval two months later, and funded the Atlanta Chiefs for three seasons.
He was right about soccer. The market just needed four decades to catch up.
Jason Longshore tells the full story today, drawing on legal documents from Dick Cecil's archived papers at Emory University and a conversation with Chiefs broadcaster and GM Terry Hanson, in this special tribute edition of Off The Woodwork.
Rest well, Ted. Atlanta soccer owes you more than it knows.
May 06, 2026
