Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs News Conference (1973)

Duration: 5:03

Year Published: 1973

Sound: sound

Description: This news segment for Houston’s KPRC-TV, broadcast on September 19, 1973, captures a press conference with tennis players Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs ahead of their exhibition match at the Astrodome the following day. In his comments, Riggs talks about the importance of exhibition matches to improving the popularity of tennis. He also questions whether any woman could ever truly compete against a “good man tennis player.” King reacts but does not speak during the footage, saving her rebuttal for the court. Dubbed the “Battle of the Sexes,” the televised match drew an estimated audience of 90 million viewers worldwide. Another 30,000 filled the famed stadium. King beat Riggs in three sets, 6–4, 6–3, 6–3. The film also includes footage of walking through a wooded area towards a playground.