{"id":16759,"date":"2016-09-20T16:46:47","date_gmt":"2016-09-20T20:46:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=16759"},"modified":"2022-09-20T13:55:57","modified_gmt":"2022-09-20T17:55:57","slug":"king-defeats-riggs-in-battle-of-the-sexes-tennis-match","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/king-defeats-riggs-in-battle-of-the-sexes-tennis-match.html","title":{"rendered":"King Defeats Riggs in \u2018Battle of the Sexes\u2019 Tennis Match"},"content":{"rendered":"

Under the watchful eyes of a worldwide television audience, Billie Jean King struck a blow for women\u2019s equality when she clobbered hustler and male chauvinist Bobby Riggs in a tennis match on 20 September 1973, dubbed \u201cThe Battle of the Sexes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: Billie Jean King, 14 September 2011. Credit: Jonathan Exley; Billie Jean King Enterprises, Inc.; Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The contest, played on a green synthetic court with bright yellow balls in Houston\u2019s Astrodome, was carried live by ABC-TV and broadcast to 40 countries. Betting was heavy on the match, with Las Vegas setting 5-2 odds that the 55-year-old Riggs would beat the 29-year-old King. The odds-makers were wrong: King ruled the court, winning the best-of-five match in three straight sets, 6-4, 6-3, and 6-3.<\/p>\n

When King declined Riggs\u2019s initial challenge, then top-rated Margaret Court stepped in instead. In a Mother\u2019s Day match on 13 May 1973, Riggs humiliated Court with a clever game of lobs and beat her soundly, 6-2 and 6-1. Buoyed by this victory and sudden fame, Riggs used the attention to taunt King and a cause she passionately believed in, women\u2019s liberation, saying such things as women look prettiest when they\u2019re barefoot and pregnant.<\/p>\n

The opportunity to shut Riggs up, combined with the strong inducement of a $100,000 winner-take-all challenge, convinced King to accept. The resulting match \u2013 and her victory \u2013 got the world\u2019s attention and was a milestone for women\u2019s sports.<\/p>\n

These two newspaper articles give a good idea of the hype surrounding the tennis clash and what was at stake. They were published on the day of the match by the Augusta Chronicle<\/em>; everyone had time to read them before the 8:00 p.m. contest began.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Augusta Chronicle (Augusta, Georgia), 20 September 1973, section: Editions, page 7<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Here is a transcription of this article:<\/p>\n

Riggs: Don\u2019t call me creep;
\nKing: It\u2019s not such a bad word<\/p>\n

HOUSTON (AP) \u2013 Bobby Riggs and Billie Jean King got into an eyeball-to-eyeball, name-calling joust Wednesday on the eve of their $100,000 winner-take-all tennis Battle of the Sexes, which broke into a squabble over whether Bobby \u201cis a creep.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t mind you calling me a hustler, chauvinist pig or egomaniac,\u201d the 55-year-old Riggs told his 29-year-old woman adversary. \u201cBut you shouldn\u2019t call me a creep. It is not a nice word.\u201d<\/p>\n

Billie Jean didn\u2019t budge an inch.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not such a bad word in Beverly Hills,\u201d she replied. That was as far as she would go.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think she should have apologized, but she didn\u2019t,\u201d Riggs said. He said that Billie Jean used the term in a national magazine article. Riggs, in a bright, yellow suit and Billie Jean, sweating under a sequined, white and yellow jacket, appeared for a 30-minute press conference in the bubble outside the Astrodome where their match will take place.<\/p>\n

It was their first confrontation since reaching Houston.<\/p>\n

Asked how she felt about Riggs, who triggered this highly publicized match with his derisive comments about women in general and women\u2019s tennis in particular, Billie Jean said: \u201cI like him and I hate him. He is ridiculous. Sometimes I laugh, but mostly I get furious.\u201d<\/p>\n

Making a prediction about the match, Billie Jean said she expected the best-of-five match to go only three sets. She left no doubt who she thought would win it.<\/p>\n

Riggs said, \u201cShe expects to scrape me off the Astrodome floor. I will scrape her up. She is a woman and is subject to women\u2019s emotional frailties. She will crack up during the match.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pill-gulping Riggs is a 5-2 favorite.<\/p>\n

\u201cKing money is scarce. It\u2019s hard to find a bet on the girl,\u201d said Jimmy \u201cThe Greek\u201d Snyder, the voice of Las Vegas, checking into the hotel headquarters in a familiar checkered coat and arm loaded with form charts.<\/p>\n

Earlier, Billie Jean, the 29-year-old champion of women\u2019s lib, had been no worse than an 8-5 underdog against the 55-year-old chauvinist who shamed Margaret Court in their Mother\u2019s Day Battle of the Sexes in San Diego May 13.<\/p>\n

The best-of-five set duel with optic yellow tennis balls, which has excited and divided a nation, is scheduled at 8 p.m. EDT over a synthetic green carpet.<\/p>\n

The much-ballyhooed affair will be shown nationally by ABC-TV, which paid $750,000 for the rights, and to some 40 countries overseas via satellite. Europeans will have to stay up until after midnight to view it.<\/p>\n

Television sponsors reportedly paid $90,000 a minute for commercial TV time.<\/p>\n

The live gate picture is less rosy. Ticket sales fell off when Billie Jean became ill and defaulted in a third-round match in the recent U.S. Open at Forest Hills, but picked up markedly when the five-time Wimbledon women\u2019s champion showed up on the scene early this week and announced in a loud voice:<\/p>\n

\u201cI am fine, physically and mentally. I am ready. All I can say is Bobby had better be ready, too. He\u2019s going to have to play tennis.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jerry Perenchio, the Los Angeles producer who put together the $20 million Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier heavyweight title fight in 1971, emerged from his $2,500-a-night celestial suite and said he expected a crowd of at least 35,000.<\/p>\n

The Astrodome seats 51,000 and Perenchio\u2019s original dream was that every seat would be occupied.<\/p>\n

\u201cA full house would mean a gross of $689,000,\u201d Perenchio said. \u201cI am sure we will have a live gate of at least $500,000.\u201d The Astrodome has guaranteed Perenchio $300,000.<\/p>\n

Ticket sales came to almost a dead standstill and five London theaters cancelled closed-circuit contracts when Billie Jean developed a virus and doctors examining her in Hilton Head, S.C., discovered that she had a low sugar count in her blood.<\/p>\n

At first, it appeared the celebrated match might be in jeopardy but the alarm was unfounded. Billie Jean got healthy quite quickly on a diet of candy bars and vitamins and she has been more impressive than Bobby in pre-match workouts.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday night, Billie Jean was particularly sharp. She was actually vicious as she moved over the court, slamming the ball down the throats of her two sparring mates \u2013 Pete Collins, resident pro at Hilton Head, and Betty Stove of the Netherlands.<\/p>\n

While Mrs. King has remained in virtual seclusion, avoiding all the fanfare and gimmickry associated with the unique promotion, Bobby has been swinging wildly on a merry-go-round of parties, public appearances and late-night sessions, gabbing with the press in his seventh-floor suite.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m afraid Bobby is wearing himself out before the match ever starts,\u201d one close associate of his said. \u201cFrankly, I am worried. Bobby has given in to everything and everybody. He\u2019s never stopped.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t worry,\u201d counseled another member of the huge Riggs entourage. \u201cThat\u2019s the way Bobby lives. He\u2019ll be okay.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Augusta Chronicle (Augusta, Georgia), 20 September 1973, page 4<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Here is a transcription of this article:<\/p>\n

Editorial Research Reports<\/p>\n

A most momentous non-event tonight<\/p>\n

By Richard L. Worsnop
\nEditorial Research Staff<\/p>\n

The trouble with sporting events nowadays is that everyone takes them so seriously. Whether it be the Olympic Games or the Super Bowl, athletic contests have become exercises in national pride. What ever happened to the fun element? Tonight you\u2019ll see, when Bobby Riggs, hustler extraordinaire, plays Billie Jean King in a three-out-of-five set tennis match in Houston\u2019s Astrodome. The whole world will be watching, thanks to television.<\/p>\n

Both Riggs and King are Wimbledon triple-crown winners \u2013 in 1939 and 1973, respectively. So it is more than a battle of the sexes, or of \u201cthe libber vs. the lobber.\u201d It is youth vs. age as well. And in the annals of sports, it promises to be the most momentous non-event since Bill Veeck sent a midget to bat for the St. Louis Browns.<\/p>\n

Jimmy the Greek and all the Las Vegas high-rollers say there\u2019s no way Riggs can lose. After all, he did beat Margaret Court \u2013 who has since beaten King \u2013 last Mother\u2019s Day. But who cares? What people really want to know is, will Bobby play in drag, as he has threatened to do? And if so, will Billie Jean show up in shorts and a T-shirt?<\/p>\n

No, this isn\u2019t sports at all. \u201cThis is show business,\u201d Nora Ephron wrote in New York magazine. \u201cThis is a primetime television variety show starring the two biggest hams in tennis.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the wonderful world of ham, Riggs rates as the finest Smithfield, what with his constant digs at women\u2019s liberation. \u201cDon\u2019t you think women are at their prettiest,\u201d he asks, \u201cwhen they\u2019re sort of barefoot, pregnant, at home, taking care of the kiddies and doing the housework?\u201d<\/p>\n

All of this should hype the gate at the Astrodome, where tickets are scaled from $100 on down. Baseball\u2019s Astros originally were supposed to play at the Dome on Sept. 20, but they were obliged to change their schedule and play a twi-night doubleheader on the 19th<\/sup>. \u201cCould anyone have guessed a few years ago,\u201d mused Joe Jares in Sports Illustrated, \u201cthat the National Pastime would ever be made to move over for a tennis match, and a bisexual one at that?\u201d<\/p>\n

But the Riggs-King encounter is both more and less than a tennis match. \u201cAt the highest levels, hustling becomes national entertainment,\u201d wrote novelist Herbert Gold. \u201cIn the time of gloom and Watergate, this preacher\u2019s son (Riggs), doing a native American hustle, delights almost everyone. Somehow his senior (male chauvinist pig) act doesn\u2019t really threaten women.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his heart of hearts, Riggs probably agrees. Here is what he told Ephron: \u201cI\u2019ve never really developed any relationships with women other than the two I married\u2026I really don\u2019t know much about them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Riggs vs. King. It\u2019ll be an event, all right. San Francisco sports columnist Wells Twombly suggested that, \u201cMaybe they ought to have 40 matched pairs of gladiators fighting to the death. Pygmies could fight amazons and hippies could be fed to computers. Prominent Democrats could be tortured to death with bugging devices.\u201d Or maybe they should save all that for the Super Bowl halftime show.<\/p>\n

Note:<\/em><\/strong> An online collection of newspapers, such as GenealogyBank\u2019s Historical Newspaper Archives<\/a>, is not only a great way to learn about the lives of your ancestors \u2013 the old newspaper articles also help you understand American history and the times your ancestors lived in, and the news they talked about and read in their local papers. Do you have any memories of \u201cThe Battle of the Sexes\u201d tennis match? Please share your stories with us in the comments section.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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