Quote:Ted Turner purchased the Braves and turned them into a key programming tool on his fledgling Superstation. Now, the stadium where they play bears his name.

The Hawks were on the verge of leaving town when Turner stepped in, buying the moribund NBA franchise. Finally, he led the drive to bring the NHL back to Atlanta, even coming up with the Thrashers nickname as a tribute to the Georgia state bird.

Naturally, Turner's surprise announcement Wednesday that he is retiring as AOL Time Warner's vice chairman prompted speculation about the future of the company's three sports teams.

Will AOL Time Warner, which just reported a staggering fourth-quarter loss of $44.9 billion, be more willing to dump its Atlanta sports teams with Turner out of the way?

In particular, analysts have speculated that AOL Time Warner will be looking to raise cash by selling the Braves, who have won 11 straight division titles but are plagued by declining attendance. Forbes magazine estimated two years ago that the team was worth $407 million.

Stan Kasten, who is president of the Braves, Hawks and Thrashers, was stunned by the news that the 64-year-old Turner was stepping down to spend more time on his philanthropic endeavors.

"There's nothing I can say about his new role or relationship because I simply don't know," Kasten said in a telephone interview from his home Wednesday evening. "I just found out an hour ago. All of us in Atlanta just found out."

Turner's role with the teams began to diminish after he sold the media company bearing his name to Time Warner in 1996. Time Warner went on to merge with AOL, further reducing Turner's influence.

Although the Braves named their stadium after Turner in 1997, they removed his biography from their media guide after the merger with AOL.

Still, while Turner rarely attended games in recent years, he continued to wield enormous influence over his hometown teams.

"Every one of us who worked for the teams always felt near and dear to Ted," Kasten said. "When he's around, no matter what his role is, we always ask him to come in and talk to the guys with all three teams.

"Those performances -- and with Ted, it always feels like one -- just amuse the hell out of the players, and he enjoys it, too."

Kasten said he doesn't know if Turner's resignation will have any impact on the Braves, Hawks or Thrashers. Kasten said there are still plenty of key questions that haven't been answered: Will Turner remain on the AOL board? Will he reduce his 3.5 percent stake in the company after growing increasingly frustrated at its direction of the company?

Kasten wouldn't discuss a possible sale of the teams.

"Anything having to do with the word 'sell,' I send that right to corporate," he said. "I stopped dancing on the head of that pin a long time ago."