Tennis icon, Billie Jean King, named 2025 Tournament of Roses Grand Marshal
Sports icon and equality rights advocate Billie Jean King was named the grand marshal of the 2025 Tournament of Roses, it was announced Monday.
With 39 Grand Slam tennis titles and 20 career victories at Wimbledon, the 80-year-old Long Beach native is said to be one of the greatest tennis players of all time. She is also a pioneer in the women's rights and gender-equality movements.
President and Chairman of the Board for the 2025 Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association, Ed Morales, told the crowd before King was introduced, "We are soon to be in the presence of a true legend. Legend, icon, greatest of all time, or GOAT, as they say."
King said as a child the Rose Parade was a big deal in her home as they looked forward to it every single year.
"You have no idea how excited I am to be here today and be the grand marshal for the 2025 Tournament of Roses Parade," King said during Monday's announcement.
She joins a host of other athletes who've served as grand marshals, including Olympic champions Laurie Hernandez, Greg Louganis, Janet Evans, Allyson Felix, Carl Lewis and Shannon Miller, as well as golfers Chi-Chi Rodriguez and Arnold Palmer, and Pelé and Hank Aaron.
Morales said the 2025 tournament's theme is "Best Day Ever," celebrating life's special moments and celebrating people through their life's work, who created many "Best Days Ever" for others.
In 1971, King became the first woman athlete to earn over $100,000 in prize money, yet when she won the U.S. Open in 1972, she was awarded $15,000 less than the men's champion.
This led her to lobby for equal prize money for men and women at the U.S. Open. As a result of her 1973 advocacy, the U.S. Open became the first major tournament to offer equal prize money to both sexes. All four Grand Slams now offer equal prize money to women and men.
King went on to numerous other wins, and founded the inclusive World Team Tennis co-ed circuit, and started the Women's Sports Foundation. She was elected to the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1987, and then later became the first woman to have a major sports venue named in her honor.
In 2009, King was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United State's highest civilian honor for her advocacy work on behalf of women and the LGBTQ community.
In 2014, she founded the Billie Jean King Foundation, a non-profit that creates an equitable future through sports, education and activism.
"This quality, a person who is outward focused and working to make the world a better place for others, was most important in our selection for a grand marshal," Morales said.
King will lead the 136th Rose Parade and participate in pregame ceremonies during the 111th Rose Bowl Game.