Tennis legend Billie Jean King has been a fearless advocate for girls’s rights and girls in sports activities since early in her profession, however she mentioned there’s nonetheless work to do.
King made historical past in 1973 when she defeated high tennis participant Bobby Riggs within the well-known “Battle of the Sexes” match. Over 90 million folks worldwide tuned into the match, based on BJK’s official web site. It’s the foundation for the 2017 film of the identical title starring Emma Stone and Steve Carell.
Constructing on her strides for girls in sports activities, King helped discovered the Ladies’s Tennis Affiliation and have become its first president. She additionally lobbied for equal prize cash for women and men on the U.S. Open, making it the primary main event to supply equal prize cash throughout sexes.
Because the 2025 U.S. Open descends on New York Metropolis, King sat down with CNBC’s Alex Sherman for a wide-ranging interview on the state of girls’s sports activities, uniting tennis throughout males’s and girls’s leagues and her perspective on growing old gracefully.
Leveling the taking part in area
Rising up, King mentioned her father believed in her simply as a lot as he did in her youthful brother. She mentioned the best way that males use their energy is a key a part of the struggle for girls’s rights.
“We’re taught to not ask for what we wish and wish. We’re completely taught not to do this,” she mentioned.
However King recounted examples of how ladies have led to actual, tangible modifications within the trade once they converse up.
When David Stern was commissioner of the NBA, King had been sitting with him within the president’s field on the U.S. Open. After working up the braveness, she mentioned she requested Stern to vow he would not let the WNBA fail. He agreed and secured the monetary backing to get the league on stable footing.
Equally, King mentioned hockey legend Kendall Coyne Schofield got here to her and her spouse, Ilana Kloss, to recruit their assist in beginning the Skilled Ladies’s Hockey League, which had its first recreation in 2024.
“I checked out her, I mentioned, ‘You don’t have any concept how courageous you might be, as a result of most ladies haven’t got the center to even ask.’ However now we’ve a league as a result of she requested. Kendall requested the query,” King mentioned.
King mentioned the female and male tennis gamers have been working collectively increasingly more over time. However her objective to unite the 2 leagues — the ATP and the WTA — continues to be a piece in progress.
“That is my prayer for the longer term,” she mentioned.
Ageing gracefully
To King, growing old simply means extra alternative.
She mentioned she and her spouse attempt to play tennis collectively thrice per week.
“I’ve learn analysis, you may stay nearly — particularly with tennis, it is the healthiest sport on the earth — that I can stay nearly 10 years additional, and that is what I need,” she mentioned.
On Tuesday, ride-share firm Lyft introduced it’s partnering with King in its “Silver is Gold” marketing campaign in an effort to reframe the dialog round growing old.
King mentioned Lyft Silver, a service designed for older adults, is beneficial as a result of it makes use of bigger font, presents tech assist with a stay individual and matches customers with autos which might be simpler to step into. She mentioned it grants older adults freedom and independence.
And whereas older populations have more and more turned towards pickleball over the previous few years as a supply of train, King mentioned she’s sticking with tennis.
“I’ve performed it a few instances, however I do not love the sound,” she mentioned. “So long as I can play tennis, that is the place the magic is for me, when the ball hits the strings.”
