50 years ago, Billie Jean King played against a “male chauvinist” in the “Battle of the Sexes.” It was about $100,000 – and much more. The effects are still felt today.
Even after almost half a century, Michelle Obama was still outraged. In her eulogy for Billie Jean King, the former First Lady of the USA recently recalled the tennis icon’s sensational duel with a self-proclaimed one “male chauvinist”.
“There were people like Bobby Riggs who made ridiculous statements like, ‘Women belong in the bedroom and in the kitchen – in that order'”said the wife of former US President Barack Obama at the end of August at the US Open in the largest tennis stadium in the world. “Those were his exact words, believe it or not.”
Not only King’s successful fight for equal prize money for women Grand Slamtournament in New York is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. In the same year, the so-called “Battle of the Sexes“, the battle of the sexes, which represented an important step towards equality in tennis and sport in general.
Fight for equal pay
In the early 1970s, many female players struggled to be paid like their male counterparts. When King received less than half as much as men’s champion Ilie Nastase for her victory at the US Open in 1972, she threatened a boycott the following year.
Bobby Riggs, former world number one and Wimbledon winner, then challenged the top players at the age of 55. From his point of view, men were fundamentally superior and equal prize money was therefore unjustified. King initially refused. The Australian Margaret Court, the best player in the world at the time, agreed – and suffered a crushing defeat 2:6, 1:6, which went down in history as the “Mother’s Day Massacre”.
“Now I had to play against him”writes King in the book “Trailblazers“on the history of women’s tennis, “I had no choice.” The encounter on September 20, 1973 was staged as a big show in front of more than 30,000 spectators. Four bare-chested men carried King in a sedan chair into the Astrodome in Houston, while Riggs arrived in a rickshaw and initially presented a canary yellow jacket with the words “Sugar Daddy” written on it. It was about $100,000, and for King there was more than money at stake.
“I thought that if I didn’t win the match it would set us back 50 years”she reminded. “It would ruin the women’s tour and affect the self-esteem of all women.”
King shows Riggs the limits
Riggs was overwhelmed in the match, King quickly saw her opponent gasping for air – the then 29-year-old won 6:4, 6:3, 6:3. More than 50 million people watched in the USA alone, and the number of viewers worldwide was estimated at 90 million people. Since then, no tennis match has had a higher audience rating.
Shortly before his death in 1995, Riggs denied rumors that he deliberately lost and bet on his own defeat in order to use it to pay off gambling debts to the mafia. “Many people, especially men, don’t like it when women win. They make up stories,” King scoffed at such speculation. “It’s hard on their egos.” The tennis battle of the sexes also made its way into pop culture. In 2017, the “Battle of the Sexes” was made into a film starring Emma Stone and Steve Carell.
It wasn’t about tennis
King also recalled this memorable event again during her appearance at a Tennis Hall of Fame gala in Manhattan a week ago at the end of the US Open. “The Battle of the Sexes meant a lot to me because I knew what it meant and that it was about social change. It wasn’t about tennis.”said the 79-year-old. “Women couldn’t get their own credit cards. Title IX had been passed the year before, and I fought hard for Title IX.”
This law states that no person in the United States may be excluded from receiving federally funded education because of gender. Since its adoption, the number of women in college sports has increased exorbitantly.
And King was also successful with her fight in tennis. In 1973, the US Open became the first Grand Slam tournament to introduce equal prize money for women, with the other three major tournaments following over the years.
Today, her legacy is still clearly felt at the tournament, which King won 13 times in singles, doubles and mixed doubles. The cheers when she waves from her place in the official gallery are louder than for any other pop star. Even at the moment when Coco Gauff accepted her check for three million US dollars after the final triumph, leaned towards the microphone and said in the direction of King: “Thank you, Billie, for fighting for this.”