Billie Jean King's drive for equal prize money celebrated at U.S. Open
Billie Jean King speaks to the media before the first-round Fed Cup matches between the United States and Australia, Feb. 9, 2019, in Asheville, Credit: AP/Chuck Burton
It was back in the late summer of 1972 when Billie Jean King came to the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills and repeated her title at the U.S. Open. But the singles champ wasn’t too thrilled at her final media session due to the final scores from the prize money pool.
Men’s winner: $25,000.
Women’s winner: $10,000.
“When I was in the press conference, I thought everything was OK and [then] I’m thinking, ‘God, I only got 10 and Ilie [Nastase] got 15 [more]’ ” King said. “So I said to everyone, and I was just feeling this — there are a lot of consequences when you say things — I said, ‘This really stinks. I don’t think the girls will be back next year.’ ”
But the No. 1 women’s player in the world didn’t leave it at that. She tried to do something about it.
“I thought I’ll go out and get a sponsor. If I can go out and bring in the money, how are they going to say no?” King said.
She found Bristol Myers was willing to make up the difference. So the men’s and women’s fields each competed for a total purse of $100,000 in 1973, with the singles champs taking home $25,000 apiece.
And now it’s the happy 50th anniversary of that equality. The first round of the US Open starts Monday at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, and the USTA is making a celebration of the equal prize money anniversary a prime theme at this 143rd edition. The organization stated that the tournament was the first sporting event to ever offer equal prize money. Both the men’s and women’s winners will each emerge with $3 million this year.
A poster celebraing 50 years of equal prize money is seen at the U.S. Open. Credit: Newsday/Brian Heyman
The force behind the equal pay sat in the President’s Suite inside Arthur Ashe Stadium Thursday, chatting with a small group of reporters. At 79, King is still a voice for women’s equality. The 12-time singles champ in Grand Slam events — including four U.S. Opens — is enthused over what’s ahead for women’s sports.
“Women are just starting to get the investment,” King said. “I think we’re at the tipping point where people think there’s money in women now. That’s why they’re buying soccer teams. That’s why they’re buying basketball teams. They really are investing now.”
Brian Hainline, the USTA’s chairman of the board and president, paid tribute to her in March when he said, “No individual has done more to secure equality for female athletes than Billie Jean King.”
She knows the singular act of gaining equal prize money 50 years ago changed sports and the world.
“Totally,” King said. “First of all, people probably went, ‘Huh? What? The women are going to get as much as the guys?’ It starts to help change hearts and minds of people. This is a huge event to do that.
“Like when I played Bobby Riggs. It also helped change the hearts and minds of people. Social change. You start thinking about your own life, your own children, parents, whatever, and start to think about other things, too. Why don’t we have equality in pay?
“But women are set behind with COVID, too, though. That’s put us behind again, like figure 30 or 50 years maybe. We’re not going to have equality for another couple of hundred years probably. But we’ve got to keep pushing.”
King still follows tennis closely. And after about a 20-year break from playing, she began to get out on the court during the pandemic.
“I’ve started to hit again, so I’m really crazier than ever because I can feel the ball against the strings,” King said. “It’s like, ‘Yeahhh.’ ”
