- Tennis legend Billie Jean King has long led the charge for gender equality in sports and beyond.
- The "Battle of the Sexes" champion says the next step is for women athletes to "follow the money."
NEW YORK — Legendary tennis star Billie Jean King has been instrumental in elevating women's sports to where they are today.
But the 12-time Grand Slam champion and "Battle of the Sexes" winner has no interest in taking a trip down memory lane and sifting through her incomparable influence; her brain, she says, is "always in the future."
"Most of the time if I do look back, it's because it's going to help plan the future," King told Insider ahead of her Women's Sports Foundation's Annual Salute to Women in Sports. "You want to keep dreaming to make things better all the time. I would never want this generation go what I went through in my generation or the generation before."
"But we have a long way to go," she added. "Because I'd like to see the women having the same opportunities as men."
Now 78 years old and a titan of the sports world, King has plenty of thoughts on how best to achieve that ambitious feat. Her top priority, she says, is encouraging "women to be in business."
"It's very important that women follow money, they understand money, they use it, and it creates opportunities and mobility," King said. "I really want women to follow the money, because boys are encouraged to follow the money. We have to do the same thing."
"Money is powerful," she added. "Money creates opportunities. So we have to do that."
Women's sports have historically received just a fraction of the investment afforded to men's pro sports. But women's leagues, teams, and organizations have seen a dramatic uptick in cash flow over the past few years, in response to increased interest, engagement, and viewership.
Even so, King knows the scales aren't yet level. She's put her money where her mouth is by investing in National Women's Soccer League Club Angel City FC, as well as media platform Just Women's Sports.
She's encouraging women in the space to leverage their connections and take initiative.
"First of all, relationships are everything," King said. "That's why everyone's so important that you meet. Relationships are everything. And usually that's how, if you read about business, it's 'I went to this guy, I went to that guy with that relationship, I went to that one, and that's how I built it.' So women have to understand, that's why it's so important.
"Women in sports know that, we understand that," she added of athletes, "because we're around teams and you meet business people and so you have all these opportunities."
But King also endorses an age-old adage: If you want something done right, do it yourself.
"Get involved," King advises. "Own things."