The school has heavily invested in its on-campus athletic facilities since the 1990s with the creation of Hermann Stadium and Chaifetz Arena.

An early SLU football coach, John R. Bender,[2] is said to have been the inspiration for the nickname "Billikens," which is still used by the school's athletic teams.

During the 1911 season, according to one version of the story, local sportswriters commented that Bender bore an uncanny resemblance to a charm doll called a Billiken, which was a national fad at the time.

A member of the Atlantic 10 Conference, St. Louis University sponsors teams in eight men's and ten women's NCAA sanctioned sports.

SLU's most successful baseball team of all time was the 1965 squad, which qualified for the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the College World Series.

The Billikens are currently coached by Travis Ford and has a popular celebrity fan base including John Stamos, Ruben Studdard, and Lil' Kim[citation needed].

The Program officially relocated from the Bauman-Eberhardt Center, the third oldest facility in NCAA Division I sports, to Chaifetz Arena on the eastern edge of campus for spring workouts in early April 2008.

Several Billikens have gone on to play professionally, including Shane Battelle, Brad Davis, Vedad Ibišević, Brian McBride, Matt McKeon, Al Trost, Dipsy Selolwane, Mike Sorber, Joe Clarke, Bob Madison, Martin Hutton, Jack Jewsbury, Tim Ward, Brett Branan, Will John, and Tim Ream.

Under head coach Christy Connoyer, the Billikens won their first Atlantic 10 Conference regular season title in 2023.

Although the school no longer has a football team, they made a lasting mark on the sport as the 1906 team, coached by Eddie Cochems, threw the first legal forward pass in college football history, Bradbury Robinson to Jack Schneider on September 5, 1906, vs. Carroll College at Waukesha, Wisconsin.

In 2013, SLU Hockey hosted the ACHA Men's Division II National Championships at the Hardee's Iceplex in Chesterfield, MO.

SLU Hockey went 1-2 in pool play and failed to advance and Michigan State University would claim the National Championship.

Meeting between former SLU President Lawrence Biondi and Blues executive Bruce Affleck were rumored to have taken place and locations scouted for a possible rink.

The team is compiled mostly from students, who have played in elite Jesuit & Catholic high school programs across the country.