On September 20, 1973, in front of a crowd of more than 30,000 spectators at the Houston Astrodome, female tennis star Billy Jean King defeated Bobby Riggs in a much publicized "Battle of the Sexes" tennis match. Riggs had boasted that no woman could defeat a professional male player because women were simply the weaker sex. This chauvinistic attitude was a sore spot with female players who made much less money than the top male athletes. King, a vocal supporter of women's rights, accepted Riggs' challenge and defeated him soundly, winning in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3.