Billie Jean King: ‘As an athletic,’ winning Battle of the Sexes ‘meant nothing.’ Culturally, ‘it meant everything.’

Ahead of the 50th anniversary of Title IX, tennis star and activist Billie Jean King joins Andrea Mitchell to talk about her contributions to women’s rights in athletics and beyond, including her victory in the 1973 “Battle of the Sexes” tennis match. “For me, it was about protecting Title IX, which had just been passed the year before,” says King. “As an athletic, that feat meant nothing. But culturally and for social change, it meant everything.” After the match, she says “women would come up to me and say, I for the first time in my life have self confidence. I have enough courage to ask for a raise at work.”April 19, 2022