It was 1973, and Riggs, a top men’s player in the 1930s and 1940s, was now a 55-year-old self-described hustler and male chauvinist. He claimed the women’s game was so inferior to the men’s game that even someone as old as he was could beat the current top female players. He challenged and defeated Margaret Court 6–2, 6–1.
Billie Jean, who had previously rejected challenges from Riggs, realized she now had to play him, and accepted his challenge to disprove his baseless assertions.
Promoters dubbed the match the “Battle of the Sexes,” and gave it a primetime television audience. 50 million people in the United States and an estimated 90 million people worldwide tuned in on September 20, 1973 to watch King versus Riggs in the Houston Astrodome. One of the most watched televised sporting events of all time, no tennis match before or since has been seen by so many.
Billie Jean beat Bobby Riggs in straight sets, 6–4, 6–3, 6–3, and earned the winner-take-all prize of $100,000.
The Battle of the Sexes tennis match was about more than simply defeating Riggs. She felt incredible pressure to win because, as she said afterward, “I thought it would set us back 50 years if I didn’t win that match. It would ruin the women’s [tennis] tour and affect all women’s self-esteem. To beat a 55-year-old guy was no thrill for me. The thrill was exposing a lot of new people to tennis.”
Perhaps no other sporting event has played a more significant role in developing greater respect and recognition for women athletes than the Battle of the Sexes. Billie Jean’s victory, together with the passage of Title IX, is often credited with both igniting a boom in women’s sports participation, and for empowering women to advocate for equal pay in all sectors of the workforce. Continue reading from Billie Jean King Official
Battle of the Sexes (Encyclopedia Britannica)
The Battle of the Sexes (The Gilder Lehrman Institute)
Billie Jean King triumphs in “Battle of the Sexes” (History)
When Billie Jean King won the ‘Battle of the Sexes’ (CNN)
How Billie Jean King Won the Battle of the Sexes, as Told in 1973 (Time)
50 Years Later: The Battle of the Sexes, Billie Jean King vs. Bobby Riggs (USA Today)
Billie Jean King and the Battle of the Sexes (National Women's History Museum)
How Billie Jean King Made Women’s Sports History at the “Battle of the Sexes” (Biography)
On this Date: King Defeats Riggs in 'Battle of the Sexes' (ESPN)
