King appears on Daily Show to talk equal pay in soccer

Who better to campaign for women's rights in sports than Billie Jean King? (Credit: Comedy Central Video)

Billie Jean King is not a face you'd expect to see on Comedy Central, but there she was on Wednesday night for some less-than-comedic reasons. She appeared on The Daily Show, campaigning for—what else?—gender equality in sports.

But this time it wasn't on behalf of tennis, for which she’s achieved plenty. King has switched playing fields and turned her attention to soccer.

Members of the U.S. women's soccer team—including Becky Sauerbrunn, Ali Krueger and Hope Solo—were the main guests on the show, and they were interviewed by The Daily Show’s Hasan Minhaj. The late-night show is a blend of serious news and comedic spin, but most of the points that came to light in this segment, titled "American Soccer's Gender Wage Gap," are nothing to laugh at:

The U.S. men’s soccer team is ranked No. 36 and has never won a World Cup or Olympic medal. Male players are paid around $17,000 for each game won, and $5,000 for each game lost. The women’s team is ranked No. 1, and owns three World Cup titles and four Olympic gold medals. The female players are paid around $1,700 for games won, and $0 for games lost. See a more detailed prize money breakdown here.

Understandably, the women's team is fed up. Five players have filed a wage discrimination lawsuit for being paid nearly four times less than the men.

Who better to step in on behalf of women's rights than the tennis pioneer? While King may be most famous for winning the Battle of the Sexes over Bobby Riggs in 1973, she’s done far more than win a tennis match to get equal pay for women. (Though there's a blockbuster film about that historic match coming out this year, starring Emma Stone and Steve Carell.)

“It wasn’t easy peasy man…” King tells Minhaj. “We’re supposed to be so happy if we get one crumb, but we deserve the cake, the icing and the cherry on top, just like the boys.”

Preach, King. If she does for soccer what she did for tennis, these players are going to need bigger wallets pretty soon.