Take your seat at Stifel Theatre for the Musial Awards, and you may notice something unexpected waiting for you: a package of tissues.
There’s a reason they come with the evening. Over the next few hours, some of the biggest names in sports will share a stage with athletes whose names may be entirely new to the audience, each recognized for a story capable of changing how you think about competition, character, and what deserves to be celebrated.
On November 21, St. Louisans can experience those stories in person when the nationally televised Musial Awards return to Stifel Theatre. This year, Billie Jean King will be honored, the event will fall on Stan Musial’s birthday, and guests will see the full production weeks before audiences across the country watch the edited broadcast on CBS on December 26. The television audience will eventually see the highlights—but St. Louis gets the entire evening.
In honor of Stan Musial’s famous No. 6, here are six reasons to be there.
1. Give young athletes a different view of winning.
Ashley Gross knows how consuming competitive youth sports can become. Her two daughters play tennis, her younger son plays soccer, and much of their athletic lives involves competing and pursuing the next opportunity.
Her family attended the Musial Awards in 2023, after her oldest daughter was recognized for sportsmanship at the USTA Billie Jean King Girls’ National Championships. Gross saw the evening give her children another way to consider what makes an athlete worth celebrating.
“The Musial Awards reminds young athletes how they compete and how they treat others matters just as much as what they accomplish,” she says.
This year’s 5:30 p.m. start makes the event accessible across generations, giving kids, parents, and grandparents an opportunity to experience the same stories together.
As Gross puts it, “Sometimes the greatest impact you can have as an athlete has nothing to do with your record or your ranking.”
2. Go VIP for the full night.
The red carpet does not belong exclusively to famous athletes and invited guests. Musial Awards tickets are available to the public, with options ranging from affordable mezzanine seats to a new $150 VIP experience.
The new VIP ticket takes the night a step further, with parking included, seating in a dedicated section only rows behind the honorees, and access to the official afterparty on the Stifel Theatre stage.
Guests can walk the red carpet, watch the national awards show up close, and then head onto the same stage for the after party, turning one ticket into an entire evening at the Musial Awards.
3. See Billie Jean King take the stage.
Among this year’s honorees is a name whose influence has reached generations of athletes. Billie Jean King will receive the 2026 Stan Musial Lifetime Achievement Award for Sportsmanship. Brad Fuss, executive producer and director of the CBS broadcast, has worked on the Musial Awards for eight years and spent several of them hoping that King would join the program.
“Billie Jean King changed sports,” Fuss says. “Her influence reaches generations of athletes, and she is still using her voice to create opportunities for others. Having her on the Musial Awards stage is incredibly meaningful.”
Fuss sees the reach within his own family. His daughter, a tennis player herself, is making the trip to St. Louis largely for the opportunity to meet one of the sport’s most influential figures.
4. Celebrate Stan Musial on his birthday.
Few dates could be more fitting. This year’s ceremony falls on November 21, Musial’s birthday, bringing added significance to an evening inspired by the Cardinals legend and the sportsmanship that he represented.
The birthday connection continues with Billie Jean King, who will receive the Stan Musial Lifetime Achievement Award for Sportsmanship one day before celebrating her own 83rd birthday, on November 22.
Guests can expect special touches celebrating Musial throughout the evening, adding to an event inspired by his reputation for humility, character, and playing the game the right way.
This year, the athletes recognized on his birthday will offer new examples of why Musial’s name remains synonymous with sportsmanship decades later.
5. See the full live production before it airs nationally on CBS.
Guests inside Stifel Theatre see a version of the Musial Awards that most TV viewers never will. The live show runs approximately two and a half hours, while the eventual CBS broadcast has roughly 48 minutes to capture it.
Producing those two versions of the Musial Awards is a job that Fuss knows well. Now entering his eighth year as executive producer and director of the CBS broadcast, Fuss brings decades of sports and entertainment television experience to capturing the stories inside Stifel Theatre for a national audience.
During the Musial Awards, cameras move throughout the theater, producers capture audience reactions, and longer features give guests more time with the people behind each honor before Fuss and his team create the edited CBS program.
“I want people to leave believing they’ve been on an emotional journey,” Fuss says. “You laugh, you cry, you’re surprised, and you’re inspired. But most of all, you leave thinking about the people and the stories you just experienced.”
Even the honorees have been surprised by how emotional the evening can become. When Cal Ripken Jr. received the Lifetime Achievement Award for Sportsmanship in 2016, he began his onstage interview by referencing the package waiting at his seat. “First of all, I didn’t think I would use those tissues on my seat,” Ripken said. “I was clearly wrong.”
Gross remembers a similar reaction after attending with her family. “Time and again, we were overwhelmed by stories of people showing tremendous character, kindness, and extraordinary sportsmanship,” she says. “It was such a powerful reminder of all the good there is in the world.”
6. Give someone a memorable night out instead of another gift.
By November 21, holiday shopping is already starting to compete for attention. The Musial Awards offer another option for the parent, grandparent, friend, or family member who may not need another present.
The Musial Awards gives families an opportunity to share something increasingly difficult to find in a busy season. Parents can bring children who are discovering what competition means. Adults can bring their parents or grandparents, who grew up watching a different generation of sports legends. Friends can make a night of an event that will give them plenty to discuss afterward.
Gross saw the value of experiencing the evening alongside her own children. “You leave the Musial Awards reminded that sports are so much more than achievement,” she says. “They are an opportunity to shape the kind of person you become and the kind of impact you can have on others.”
An evening capable of starting those conversations can be difficult to put in a gift box, which may be exactly why it is worth giving.
Stories worth seeing in person
The Musial Awards gives St. Louis audiences a rare opportunity to attend a nationally televised awards production and experience the full show live. On November 21, the red carpet will open, Billie Jean King will take the stage, and a new group of honorees will show why sportsmanship can command just as much attention as winning.
By the end of the evening, those tissues waiting at your seat may make a lot more sense.
This post was created by SLM Partner Studio on behalf of the St. Louis Sports Commission. To learn more about the Musial Awards and purchase tickets for November 21 at Stifel Theatre, visit musialawards.com.
