When tennis legend Billie Jean King arrived at Forest Hills to defend her women’s singles title at the 1972 U.S. Open, she made her opinion about the disparity in prize money between the men’s and women’s tournaments clear.
“I think it stinks,” the then-28-year-old, who in 1971 became the first woman in any sport to win more than $100,000 in a calendar year, told reporters.
In 1973, Ban deodorant masked the stench with a $55,000 grant called the “Ban Equalizer,” making the U.S. Open the first Grand Slam tennis tournament to offer equal prize money for men and women. Throughout this year’s tournament in New York, organizers are celebrating 50 years since the historic moment and King’s efforts in making it happen.
King won $10,000 for defeating Australia’s Kerry Melville in straight sets in the women’s singles final at the 1972 U.S. Open, her ninth Grand Slam title. Ilie Nastase, who outlasted Arthur Ashe in the men’s singles final, took home $25,000. Afterward, King told reporters she and her fellow female competitors considered boycotting the event because of the disparity.
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“We had a meeting about a week before the tournament, and about 35 or 40 of us voted unanimously not to play because the money was lousy,” King said. “The only reason we showed up is because we took the action too late for it to have been put in effect. I know I won’t be here next year and a lot of other girls won’t unless the money is on par.”
A record crowd of 14,683 had packed the West Side Tennis Club to watch King defeat Melville and Ashe clinch a spot in the men’s singles final with a win over Cliff Richey.
“I don’t know for sure if they came to see us, but I’m sure the women’s play has the same entertainment value as the men’s,” King said. “… I think next year we might not play in any of the opens unless the money goes up. Not the French, not Wimbledon, not here.”
In her autobiography, “All In,” King said she met with U.S. Open tournament director Billy Talbert before the 1972 event. During that meeting, she reminded Talbert of fellow American pro Ceci Martinez’s fan survey at the 1970 U.S. Open, which indicated there was genuine interest in women’s tennis, and told him she wouldn’t return in 1973 if the prize money wasn’t leveled. Then she mentioned the sponsorship grant she had negotiated with Ban.
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“Billy couldn’t believe that I’d brought money to the table, not just rhetoric,” King wrote.
The wheels of change were in motion. On June 21, 1973, four days before Wimbledon, King and about 60 female players gathered at the Gloucester Hotel in London, where they formed the Women’s International Tennis Association. King was named president. Françoise Dürr of France was named secretary, and Betty Stove of the Netherlands was named treasurer.
The timing of the women’s organizing efforts was significant because 81 men’s players boycotted Wimbledon that year in protest of the suspension of Yugoslavia’s Niki Pilic for failing to appear in a Davis Cup match.
“We are in a marvelous bargaining position [to ask for more money],” King told reporters.
“We mean business,” Dürr said. “If we feel we ought to walk out in support of the men, then we shall.”
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One month later, the “Ban Equalizer” was announced at a news conference ahead of the U.S. Open. “Tennis Decides All Women Are Created Equal, Too” read the headline in the New York Times on July 20, 1973.
“Stepping in to rectify a situation that Mrs. Billie Jean King once said ‘stinks,’ Ban deodorant announced yesterday it would donate $55,000 in prize money to make the women’s purse at the 1973 United States Open tennis championships equal to the men’s,” Parton Keese reported. “With the additional funds, women singles players will compete for a record $95,200 — the same as in the men’s singles — with the first prize for both $25,000.”
“We feel that the women’s game is equally as exciting and entertaining as the men’s, and we hope that our direct involvement with the 1973 U.S. Open clearly indicates our positive position on behalf of women in sports,” Joseph G. Keinberger, a vice president with Bristol-Myers, which owned Ban, told the Times.
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Talbert, the tournament director, was asked whether he thought the male players would complain.
“If there [are complaints], I’ll just tell the men to go out and sell their product better,” he said.
Jack Kramer, CEO of the Association of Tennis Professionals, called the grant “a wonderful break for the ladies” but told the New York Daily News that men deserved more prize money than women because they played best-of-five sets, compared with best-of-three, and had more good players, making the competition “longer and harder.”
Despite those long-standing arguments against equal pay, change had arrived at the U.S. Open.
“I don’t think I would have fought for it as hard as Billie Jean did,” 18-year-old women’s tennis star Chris Evert told the Times before the tournament, “but it’s right. We can’t play the men’s game, but we put out just as much in competition and we draw as many people.”
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The Australian Open offered equal prize money for the first time in 1984, reverted to a larger purse for the men’s tournament in 1996 and returned to equal pay in 2001. The French Open agreed to equal prize money for the men’s and women’s champions beginning in 2006. Wimbledon finally relented in 2007, 34 years after the U.S. Open set the standard.
Last week, former first lady Michelle Obama introduced King during a ceremony between matches at Arthur Ashe Stadium, where the total purse at this year’s U.S. Open is a tournament-record $65 million split evenly between the men and women.
“As we honor Billie Jean and celebrate this tournament and this amazing milestone, let us remember that all of this is far bigger than a champion’s paycheck,” Obama said. “This is about how women are seen and valued in this world.”
King, 79, thanked Talbert for believing in her dream 50 years ago.
“While we celebrate today, our work is far from done,” King said before sharing one of her favorite quotes from Coretta Scott King. “Struggle is a never-ending process. Freedom is never really won. You earn it and win it in every generation.”
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