Elton John to Extend 5 Decades of Friendship With Billie Jean King by Co-Producing New ESPN 30-For-30 Documentary on Her

Nandini Rikhee | 08/09/2024
Elton John to Extend 5 Decades of Friendship With Billie Jean King by Co-Producing New ESPN 30-For-30 Documentary on Her
Sports broadcaster ESPN has the US Open as its biggest tennis tournament to present to its sports viewers each year. The tournament also opened doors for them to promote some of their original programs, like the recent docuseries ‘In The Arena: Serena Williams’ and now, the 30 for 30 documentary featuring Billie Jean King which will be helmed by Elton John.
The broadcaster recently announced on social media that King’s story has finally been given the green flag to be shown in the next 30 for 30 series. 30 for 30 is a series of ESPN documentary films, made up of 30 episodes each.
It is a way for them to share the stories of some of the most iconic heroes from and around the sports world. A total of 4 volumes of the series have already been released until now.
Other than these 30-episode seasons, it also includes three more series- ESPN Films Presents, Shorts and Soccer Stories. While the first one is a 13-episode series, the second one consists of shorts from the 30 for 30 series and the last one was aired before the 2014 FIFA World Cup to share some of the most inspiring soccer stories with the world.
The Billie Jean King documentary is also going to be co-produced by British singer Elton John through his sports media company, Rocket Sports. John and BJK go a long way back, being friends for more than 50 years now.
In 1975, King was coaching a World Team Tennis charter franchise – Philadelphia Freedoms and hence, asked her singer friend to write a song for the team that could motivate them. Thus, John’s popular single – Philadelphia Freedom was a result of this request.
Reacting to the news of her documentary, the former world number 1 spoke to ESPN at the US Open and explained how excited she was to get it started.

Ridley Scott Associates and Story Syndicate are the co-producers of the documentary, which has already gone on the floors, alongside John. It is being co-directed by Elizabeth Wolff and Liz Garbus. BJK will be seen in a never-seen-before avatar, opening up about being the rebel that tennis needed despite all the success she achieved in the sport and how that made her struggle to accept herself and at the same time, bring a change in the sport and society around her.

It’s a matter of prestige for King to have the opportunity to get immortalized in this ESPN series. It establishes the already-known fact that the 12-time Grand Slam champion is a legend in the sporting world and not just in the United States.
Post Edited By: Dhruv Rupani
Billie Jean King

About the author

Nandini tennis writer

Nandini Rikhee

Nandini Rikhee is a Tennis writer for The SportsRush. Having done her bachelors in Journalism from Lady Shri Ram College for women, Nandini has been working in the field of sports journalism for around 3 years now. During the course of this time, she got the opportunity to cover some major sports events and tournaments like the Asian Games, Commonwealth Games etc. She grew up watching Roger Federer hit his iconic backhand and Rafael Nadal his classic forehand. Being a Tennis enthusiast, working for this sport is a matter of delight for her as it helps her enjoy and love the work.

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