IBIS Initiatives - Billie Jean King Foundation Case Study Series on Gender Equity in Sports

Billie Jean King Foundation Cases in the Darden Case Collection

Billie Jean King: Serving Up Leadership

Throughout a lifetime of athletic success, hard work, high visibility, and professional and personal challenges both on and off the tennis court, Billie Jean King, an icon of professional tennis, business, and activism, remained deeply committed to gender equality, social parity, and justice. King had fought many battles, overcome many challenges, and knocked down barriers in the sports world and beyond. She had promoted and energized women’s tennis—indeed, tennis as a professional sport—by, among other accomplishments, helping establish the first women’s professional tennis tour, founding the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and the Women’s Sports Foundation, and co-founding World TeamTennis (WTT). She was responsible for many changes in tennis, including bringing professionalism to the sport and helping achieve pay parity. This case study details King’s life, including her childhood and her professional tennis career, in which she ranked number one for many years, won 39 major championships, and was regarded by many as one of the greatest tennis players of all time. Starting in the 1960s, with her many tennis championships—including the 1973 “Battle of the Sexes,” in which she defeated Bobby Riggs—King was a household name. But even as her tennis career slowed down, King was still known and recognized internationally for her activism on behalf of women, the LGBTQ community, and social justice and parity. In 2014, she established the Billie Jean King Leadership Initiative, a nonprofit dedicated to diversity, equity, and inclusion. It addressed the critical issues required to achieve inclusive leadership and supported organizations and programs that provided equal opportunity and access, regardless of race, gender, religion, ability, or sexual orientation. This case study examines the many challenges King faced over the years and her efforts to overcome barriers, level the playing field, and promote justice, not just for herself, but for others in and outside the sports world.

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Nike: Retaining Talent and Managing a Brand

In 2021, Nike had lost some of the top female athletes it had sponsored, including WNBA two-time champion Breanna Stewart and gymnast Simone Biles. The reasons for the departures, which had taken place over the past several years, varied, but several prominent departing female athletes had accused Nike of bad practices when athletes became pregnant. Track and field star Allyson Felix, in a New York Times op-ed, described how Nike wanted to pay her 70% less after her pregnancy. An iconic brand since the 1970s, Nike had sponsored many prominent athletes and had tried over the years to attract more women; these accusations were a blow to both its reputation and brand. The company was no stranger to controversy, having weathered, among other conflicts, the 1980s publicity storm of opposition to Nike's using child labor in overseas factories. Nike had put into place new practices and systems to address the problems. The company had stood by Colin Kaepernick in 2016 when the NFL player had garnered intense political and social pushback for kneeling in protest during the US national anthem. However, the accusations by these female athletes and the departure of many to other companies reflected badly on the company. Nike leadership had to decide how to address these issues and, in doing so, retain its reputation, brand, and ability to attract female athletic talent—and retain its relationship with those athletes.

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Bystander Intervention: USA Gymnastics and Beyond (A & B)

(Case A): This partially disguised, public-sourced case details the situation surrounding longtime USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar's abuse of athletes from the standpoint of someone who must decide whether and how best to intervene. In 2015, Megan Peterson, an elite gymnastics coach, has accidentally overheard a troubling conversation about Nassar between the athlete she directly supports, Janet Smith, and a teammate. After helping Smith feel safe enough to talk to her about what is going on, Peterson learns that Nassar has been abusing young athletes from his position as a trusted, respected medical professional for the national gymnastics team. Now she has a huge decision to make: Does she have a responsibility to report what Smith told her? If she does, would she be betraying her athlete's confidence and hurting Smith's chances to make the 2016 Olympic team? Moreover, given Nassar's position and good reputation in the USA Gymnastics organization, if Peterson reported what she'd learned, would she be believed?
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(Case B): This partially disguised, public-sourced case, a follow-up to “Bystander Intervention: USA Gymnastics and Beyond (A)” (UVA-E-0482), details what happened after top gymnastics coach Megan Peterson reported team doctor Larry Nassar to USA Gymnastics leadership for his abuse of young athletes. It turned out that many others had tried to report Nassar for various instances of inappropriate behavior and abuse over the years, but coaches, trainers, administrators, and even local and federal law authorities had ignored, dismissed, and generally failed to take action on the accusations. Finally, in 2017, Nassar faced consequences, as did some others in power who had allowed Nassar’s abuses to continue—but hundreds of women and girls had been hurt and then had their hurt ignored in the years before Nassar was finally brought to justice. Why had so many individuals and groups stayed silent and done nothing?
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Norwegian Women’s Beach Handball: Bucking the Bikini

In the summer of 2021, as they prepared for the European Beach Handball Championship, the Norwegian women's beach handball team rebelled against wearing bikini bottoms as part of their uniforms. The bottoms had been imposed as part of dress code for women by the International Handball Federation (IHF) despite the fact that they were impractical and, members of the team thought, degrading. The players wanted to wear shorts instead, but knew that if they did, they would risk possibly having to forfeit the game or be fined. As the championship grew closer, the players had many discussions about whether they would follow the IHF rules or wear what was more practical, effective, and less sexist during the games. This case covers other gender-based outfit issues in sports and widens the lens to other industries, including aviation, politics, and entertainment, where dress codes have adversely affected women.
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Looking for the Fast Break: the WNBA Nears a Quarter Century

In 2019, as it approached its 25th year, the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) faced many challenges. The players were disenchanted with subpar salaries, facilities, and amenities, as well as with their international play, which was necessary to bring in additional income but often had adverse effects on both their health and the league's schedule. There were also labor issues, as the league negotiated a collective bargaining agreement with its players association, as well as declining viewership and a need for more corporate sponsorship. Women's basketball had proved to be popular despite ups and downs over the years, but the challenges—particularly the financial ones—at times seemed overwhelming. Newly appointed WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert and the league leadership had to navigate this thicket of issues in their quest to grow the 12-team league's revenue streams and make it more self-sufficient, improve the overall fan experience by making the league more tech-savvy, and to increase its audience both within the United States and globally.
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