[RedMonqey]

Young folks today believe myths presented as fiction

I think it was an corrupt bargain from the get-go.

Forget the "Mob" angle.

You have an aged tennis "has been" wishing for another time in the spotlight and more money than he ever made in his lifetime vs a doctrinaire feminist and closet(at the time)lesbian at an time where feminism was challenging society's norms and were at an standoff.

In the end BOTH got what they wanted and the American people were the ultimate losers as we are still reeling from the "Battle of the Sexs" fiasco with women in the military at front line roles...

[driftless2]

If any pro athlete would have been likely to throw a match, it would have been the super-better himself, Bobby Riggs.

[Wingy]

... American people were the ultimate losers.

Untrue! During that match I learned the tennis scoring system. ABC did an excellent job of bringing the outsider into the game. Tennis scoring is strange and arcane compared to baseball and football, which was my, and many others, frame of reference.

On the other hand, the game of tennis was the big winner. Conners, Johnny Mac, Nastasi(sp), et al all of a sudden had a large fan base to watch their matches that was missing before the "Battle of the Sexes."