King Defeats Riggs: Women's Sports Equality Wins
Billie Jean King defeated Bobby Riggs 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 in the "Battle of the Sexes" at the Houston Astrodome on September 20, 1973, before 30,472 spectators and an estimated 90 million television viewers worldwide. Riggs, a 55-year-old former Wimbledon champion, had proclaimed that women's tennis was so inferior that even an old man could beat the best female player. He had already beaten Margaret Court three months earlier. King entered on a Cleopatra-style litter carried by bare-chested men. The spectacle obscured a serious point: women tennis players earned a fraction of men's prize money. King's decisive victory strengthened the case for equal pay and provided momentum for Title IX enforcement in athletics.
September 20, 1973
53 years ago
Key Figures & Places
Bobby Riggs
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tennis
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Houston, Texas
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Billie Jean King
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The Battle of the Sexes (tennis)
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Reliant Astrodome
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Battle of the Sexes (tennis)
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Houston Astrodome
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Battle of the Sexes (tennis)
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Billie Jean King
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Houston
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Bobby Riggs
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