Sports in Washington, D.C.

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Washington, D.C., has major league sports teams, popular college sports teams, and a variety of other team and individual sports. The Washington metropolitan area is also home to several major sports venues including Capital One Arena, RFK Stadium, Commanders Field, Audi Field, and Nationals Park.

The NFL's Washington Commanders were among the most successful professional sports teams in North America throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, making four Super Bowl appearances and winning three in a ten-year period ending in 1992. The sports of this region would then fall into a period of irrelevance; after the NHL's Washington Capitals reached the 1998 Stanley Cup Finals, none of the "Big Four" teams in the area (the Commanders, the Capitals, the NBA's Washington Wizards and MLB's Washington Nationals) would reach its league's semifinal round for several years. The Commanders and Wizards often struggled in their respective regular seasons, while the Capitals and Nationals were known for having spectacular regular seasons followed by demoralizing playoff losses. (However, D.C. United of Major League Soccer would win several league championships during the late 1990s and early 2000s.)

In 2018, the Big Four drought was broken when the Capitals defeated the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2018 Stanley Cup Finals. The following year, the Nationals defeated the Houston Astros in the 2019 World Series. Outside of the Big Four, the Washington Mystics defeated the Connecticut Sun in the 2019 WNBA Finals, and the Washington Spirit won their first NWSL Championship when they defeated the Chicago Red Stars in 2021.

Popular collegiate teams include the

Baltimore, Maryland

.

Professional sports

The following table shows the major league sports teams in the Washington area sorted by attendance.

Club	Sport	League	Founded	Venue	Attendance	Major honors
Washington Commanders	American Football	NFL	1937[a]	Commanders Field	63,950[1]	Pre-1966 NFL champions: 1937, 1942 Super Bowl champions: 1982, 1987, 1991
Washington Nationals	Baseball	MLB	2005[a]	Nationals Park	23,034[2]	World Series champions: 2019
Washington Capitals	Ice hockey	NHL	1974	Capital One Arena	18,573[3]	Stanley Cup champions: 2018 Presidents' Trophy: 2010, 2016, 2017
Washington Wizards	Men's Basketball	NBA	1973[a]	Capital One Arena	17,328[4]	NBA champions: 1978
D.C. United	Men's Soccer	MLS	1996	Audi Field	16,256[5]	MLS Cup champions: 1996, 1997, 1999, 2004 Supporters' Shield: 1997, 1999, 2006, 2007 CONCACAF Champions Cup: 1998[b]
DC Defenders	American Football	UFL	2018	Audi Field	14,269[6]	League runners-up: 2023
Washington Spirit	Women's Soccer	NWSL	2011[c]	Audi Field	5,955[7]	NWSL champions: 2021
Washington Mystics	Women's Basketball	WNBA	1998	Entertainment and Sports Arena	3,983[8]	WNBA champions: 2019

1. ^ ^{a b c} Year team moved to Washington area
2. ^ Other D.C. United honors include the Copa Interamericana: 1998; and Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup: 1996, 2008, 2013.
3. ^ Founded as D.C. United Women; rebranded as Washington Spirit in 2012 and started NWSL play in 2013.

Map of major league teams and sports stadiums in Washington, D.C.

Commanders

Wizards

Capitals

Nationals

D.C. United

DC Defenders

Spirit

Mystics

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Current location of major league teams in Washington, D.C. (the Commanders play in Landover, Maryland)

RFK Stadium

William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center

Uline Arena

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Location of current (green dot) and former (red dot) professional sports stadiums in Washington, D.C.

Washington also has a history of women's professional soccer. The Washington Freedom were a professional women's team playing in the Washington area from 2001 until 2011. The team first played in the now-defunct Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) between 2001 and 2003. The Freedom played at RFK for the three years of the league's existence and won the league championship in 2003, the WUSA's final year. Following the WUSA's demise, the team continued as an associate member of the W-League, playing their home games at the Maryland SoccerPlex in Germantown. In 2009, the team joined the Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) league. In 2011, the franchise relocated to Boca Raton, Florida.

Current teams

Washington is home to an original

The Washington Spirit began play as a women's professional soccer team in 2011 under the name D.C. United Women. In December 2012, the franchise rebranded as the Washington Spirit. During its early years, the team played at the Maryland SoccerPlex, but in 2019 it moved select games to Audi Field. In 2020, the Spirit began transitioning away from the SoccerPlex, playing four home games at each of three venues: the SoccerPlex, Audi Field, and Segra Field in Leesburg, Virginia. Then in 2021, the team left the SoccerPlex entirely, splitting home games between Audi Field and Segra Field. Beginning in 2023, the team moved all of its home games to Audi Field. The team is one of the eight charter members of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), a professional league launched by the United States Soccer Federation in 2013. The Spirit won the 2021 NWSL Championship.

Since 2019, the area has been represented in the second tier of U.S. men's soccer, the USL Championship, by Loudoun United FC, owned and operated by D.C. United as their official reserve side. Loudoun United started play at Audi Field, moving to their permanent home of Segra Field during their first season.

Other information

RFK Stadium has hosted two more MLS Cup championships. In 2000, the Kansas City Wizards (now known as Sporting Kansas City) won their first championship with a 1–0 win over the Chicago Fire. In the 2007 MLS Cup, the Houston Dynamo defeated the New England Revolution 2–1. RFK Memorial Stadium also served as a soccer venue in the 1994 FIFA World Cup and the 1996 Summer Olympics. FedExField has also hosted several prominent soccer games, including six matches in the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup. In July 2011, a match between Manchester United and Barcelona at FedExField drew a crowd of 81,807, a record soccer attendance for the D.C. metropolitan area.^[11]

DC United has hosted three MLS All-Star Games. It hosted the 2002 and 2004 games at RFK Stadium. The team hosted the 2023 MLS All-Star Game at Audi Field on July 19, 2023.

American football

Historic teams

In the early years of professional football, teams were focused mostly in the northeast of the US, with Philadelphia typically being the southern end of the highest professional circuit. However, Washington, D.C. had a very successful professional football team in the city during the early 1900s. The Washington Vigilants dominated the mid-Atlantic professional football landscape. From 1907 until 1914, they were an independent football team and were not affiliated with any league. During their existence, they played against several semi-professional and amateur football teams from Washington, D.C., including the Washington Potomacs, Washington Engineers, and Washington All-Stars. In the 1915 season, they were affiliated with the Ohio League, though the only team from that league they played against were the Youngstown Patricians. The team folded after the 1915 season.

The first professional football team in Washington, D.C. to compete in a country-wide football league were the Washington Senators. The team was founded in 1921, and played the 1921 season in the American Professional Football Association (APFA), which was renamed the National Football League (NFL) the next year. Following that one season, the team left the APFA and continued playing as an independent professional football team until 1941, when they folded. The team was also known as the Washington Pros and Washington Presidents during its existence. They practiced and played their home games at American League Park.

Washington Redskins / Commanders

The NFL's

In 1981, the team's owner Jack Kent Cooke hired Joe Gibbs to be the new head coach. Gibbs led the Redskins to four Super Bowl appearances and three victories. The team won Super Bowl XVII in 1982, lost Super Bowl XVIII in 1983, won Super Bowl XXII in 1987, and won Super Bowl XXVI in 1991.^[12] Gibbs is considered to be among the greatest coaches in the history of professional football,^{[citation needed]} and is the only coach to win Super Bowls with three different starting quarterbacks. The 1982 Super Bowl was won with Joe Theismann, the 1987 Super Bowl was won with Doug Williams—who became the first Black quarterback to start in and win a Super Bowl—and the 1991 Super Bowl was won with Mark Rypien as quarterback.

The success of the Redskins in the 1980s and early 1990s vaulted the team to become one of the most important and widely supported sports franchises in the country. In the D.C. area, the Redskins were perhaps the most important cultural entity, as stores would close and people would return to their homes or go to bars to watch Redskins games. The team's valuation increased to being the second highest valued sports team in the world by the time Daniel Snyder purchased the team in 1999.

In 1997, the team moved to a new stadium in

In the years since Gibbs' retirement in 1993, the team's move to

In 2020, following decades of controversy regarding the team's Native American name, and decisions by several of the team's largest sponsors to stop financing the team until they changed their name, the organization announced that they were dropping the name Redskins, and would pick up the temporary name Washington Football Team until a new name could be determined. After a two-year process, the team announced in 2022 that their permanent name moving forward would be the Washington Commanders.

In 2023, Daniel Snyder, whose ownership of the team had been mired in controversy amid a lack of on-field success since buying it in 1999, sold the team to an investment group led by Josh Harris, owner of the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils, for $6.05 billion.^[14] In addition to Harris, the group has 20 limited partners worth a combined $100 billion, including Danaher founder and art collector Mitchell Rales, Basketball Hall of Famer Magic Johnson, 76ers and Devils co-owner David Blitzer, venture capitalist and Washington Kastles owner Mark Ein, Maverick Capital founder Lee Ainslie, Blue Owl Capital founders Marc Lipschultz and Doug Ostrover, financier Alejandro Santo Domingo and his family, ProShares founder Michael Sapir, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, and Cambridge Information Group CEO Andy Snyder.^[15][16] The deal was the highest price ever paid for a sports team.^[17]

Other teams

Two other professional football leagues to have had teams in Washington include the indoor

The Washington Valor competed in the AFL from 2017 to 2019. As an indoor football league that competes on a smaller playing surface than traditional football, the team played their home games in Capital One Arena. Although the team finished with an overall regular season record of 12-26 and an overall postseason record of 2-3, they won ArenaBowl XXXI in 2018 by a score of 69-55 against the Baltimore Brigade. Following the 2019 season, the AFL was suspended indefinitely, and the Valor have not played since.

The DC Defenders competed in the XFL from 2020 until 2023. They play their home games at Audi Field. In the 2023 season, the Defenders finished with a league-best record of 9-1 in the regular season and were the heavy favorites going into the playoffs. However, they lost the 2023 XFL Championship Game to the Arlington Renegades, 35-26. Following the 2023 XFL and USFL merger, the Defenders became part of the UFL, where they currently compete.

The D.C. Divas of the Women's Football Alliance are a women's tackle football team based in the Washington area. They've competed since 2000, and won the championship in 2006, 2015, and 2016.

Other information

The headquarters of the

The

Baseball

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Historic teams

Washington's first professional baseball team was the

The ceremonial first pitch, which is now common across baseball, began in Washington in 1910 when President William Howard Taft threw out the first pitch at the Senators' Opening Day game.

Several

Current team

Washington was without a professional baseball team for over three decades until Major League Baseball relocated the Montreal Expos to the city for the 2005 season, becoming the Washington Nationals. In the interim, the Baltimore Orioles served as Washington's home team. Orioles ownership marketed the team heavily to Washington baseball fans, even removing "Baltimore" from the team's uniform (however, since the return of baseball to the D.C. area, "Baltimore" is now on the uniform again). The Orioles' reliance on the Washington market became a hindrance to Washington's efforts to gain their own baseball team as Orioles ownership lobbied Major League Baseball to keep a professional team out of Washington. Eventually, baseball's owners, burdened with a poorly performing Montreal franchise, were convinced to move the team to Washington with the promise of a brand new stadium fully financed by the D.C. government. Orioles' owner Peter Angelos cast the lone dissenting vote in the 28–1 decision. After spending their first three seasons at RFK Stadium, the Nationals began playing at Nationals Park in the Navy Yard neighborhood in 2008. The Nationals won their first-ever World Series pennant in 2019, beating the Houston Astros in seven games.

Other information

Washington, D.C. has hosted five

Washington's first professional basketball team was the Washington Capitols, which played in the inaugural season of the Basketball Association of America (BAA) (the precursor to the National Basketball Association (NBA)). The team played their home games at Uline Arena. In 1946, their first year, the Capitols had a .817 winning percentage, and had a 17-game winning streak at one point during the season. The team began the 1948–49 season with a 15-game winning streak.^[18] The Capitols continued playing in the BAA until halting operations on January 9, 1951.

There were no professional basketball teams in Washington until the Oakland Oaks moved to Washington in 1969 and formed the Washington Caps. The Caps played as part of the American Basketball Association (ABA). They played their home games in Uline Arena, which was then known as the Washington Coliseum. The team only played two seasons in Washington, before moving to Norfolk, Virginia in 1970 to become the Virginia Squires.

Current teams

On December 2, 1973, the NBA's Baltimore Bullets moved to the Washington area and played their first home game at the newly built

In 1995, team owner

Women's basketball has also played an important part in Washington's basketball history. In 1998, soon after the opening of the new MCI Center, an expansion team in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), the Washington Mystics, began playing their home games there. Despite having only two winning seasons and a mere four playoff wins in their early years, the Mystics led the league in attendance from 1998 through 2000 and again from 2002 through 2004. The team hung six banners in their home arena, touting themselves as "Attendance Champions". These banners were frequently criticized and in 2010 the new owner of the team and arena, Ted Leonsis, ordered them removed.^[19]

The Mystics moved to the newly constructed

The 2018–19 season marked the debut of the Capital City Go-Go, a team owned by the Wizards that plays in the NBA's official minor league, the NBA G League. The Go-Go play at ESA.

Other information

Washington, D.C. hosted the NBA All-Star Game once at the MCI Center (now Capital One Arena) in 2001. The same arena has hosted two WNBA All-Star Games, one in 2002 and another in 2007.

Ice hockey

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Historic teams

From 1939 through 1942, the

Current team

Following many years without professional ice hockey in Washington, businessman and sports team owner Abe Pollin decided to purchase an expansion team in the National Hockey League (NHL) for Washington, D.C. The new hockey team for Washington was created as part of the NHL's 1974 expansion. Pollin offered fans the opportunity to send in suggestions for the team's new name. Ultimately, he chose to call the new hockey team the Washington Capitals, often shortened to Caps.

Their

After spending their first 23 seasons playing in the

In addition to their Stanley Cup championship and two Eastern Conference championships, the Capitals have won three Presidents' Trophies for having the best regular season record and have claimed 13 division titles. The team won four straight division championships as members of the Southeast Division between the 2007 and 2010 seasons, and five straight in the current Metropolitan Division, between 2015 and 2020. Four Capitals players have been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame: Mike Gartner, Rod Langway, Larry Murphy, and Scott Stevens. Ovechkin is widely considered to be among the greatest NHL players in history and is currently chasing Wayne Gretzky's record for most career NHL goals.

Other information

The Capitals hosted the 1982 NHL All-Star Game at the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland.

Tennis

In late July and early August, Washington hosts an annual joint

From 1972 until 1991, Washington hosted the Virginia Slims of Washington, a WTA Tour women's tennis tournament. It was played on indoor carpet courts from 1972 to 1975 and then again from 1978 to 1990. It was played on indoor hard courts from 1976 to 1977, and was played on outdoor hard courts during its final year in 1991. The most successful champion at the tournament was Martina Navratilova, who won the singles title nine times.

In July 2008, the

The wider Washington region has hosted multiple professional golf tournaments, including men's and women's majors. The 1921 U.S. Open was played at Columbia Country Club in Chevy Chase, Maryland, just north of the city's borders. The 1964, 1997, and 2011 U.S. Opens were played at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland. Congressional also served as the location for the 1976 PGA Championship. The 1994 U.S. Women's Open was played at the Prince George's Golf and Country Club in Landover, Maryland. Congressional hosted the 2022 Women's PGA Championship. The 2027 Women's PGA Championship and 2031 Men's PGA Championship are scheduled to be played at Congressional.

Congressional also served as the home for the PGA Tour's Kemper Open from 1980 through 1986, and again in 2005. The course also hosted The National, which was Tiger Woods' tournament, from 2007 to 2009, again from 2012 to 2014, and one final time in 2016. Woods' tournament was played at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in the D.C. suburb of Gainesville, Virginia in 2015 and at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm in suburban Potomac, Maryland in 2017 and 2018. TPC Potomac also hosted the tournament originally known as the Kemper Open from 1987 to 2004 and again in 2006. It also hosted the Wells Fargo Championship in 2022.

The Trump National Golf Club Washington, D.C., located in Sterling, Virginia, hosted a LIV Golf tournament in May 2023. It was the final LIV Golf tournament to be played before the tour merged with the PGA Tour.

Fighting, boxing, and wrestling

Washington has hosted numerous

Capital One Arena was also home to Mike Tyson's final fight (Mike Tyson vs. Kevin McBride) on June 11, 2005.^[22] On October 1, 2011, UFC Live: Cruz vs. Johnson was held at the arena.^[23]

On December 7, 2019, UFC on ESPN: Overeem vs. Rozenstruik was held at Capital One Arena.

On October 2, 2019, Capital One Arena hosted AEW Dynamite, the first televised professional wrestling event by All Elite Wrestling. It was broadcast on TNT in the United States of America and on ITV4 in the United Kingdom.^[24][25]

Collegiate sports

The following schools are located in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area:

On December 20, 2008, Washington hosted its first college bowl game, the EagleBank Bowl, at RFK Stadium. The first match-up saw Wake Forest defeat Navy, 29–19.^[26] After the sponsorship deal between the bowl organizers and EagleBank expired following the 2009 edition, the game was renamed the Military Bowl, thanks to a new sponsorship deal with a major defense contractor. The game left the Washington metropolitan area after its 2012 edition; it has since been played at Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland, which lies within the Baltimore metropolitan area.

Georgetown basketball

Maryland basketball

The

Capital One Arena has hosted games in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament numerous times over the years. The city hosted first and second round games in 1998, 2002, 2008, and 2011, and hosted the regional finals (sweet sixteen and elite eight) in 2006, 2013, and 2019.^[27] The 2005–06 George Mason Patriots men's basketball team from neighboring Fairfax, Virginia advanced to the Final Four in the Washington, D.C. region of the NCAA bracket, and played their sweet sixteen and elite eight games at Capital One Arena in 2006. The arena also hosted the Atlantic 10 men's basketball tournament in 2018 and 2022. It hosted the ACC men's basketball tournament in 2005, 2016, and 2024. In 2017, the arena hosted the Big Ten Men's basketball tournament.

Capital One Arena also hosted the 2009

FedExField in Landover, Maryland has served as a neutral site for numerous college football games over the years. Among the most prominent was the 112th

Other sports

Flag football

Washington, D.C. is home to 22

The Washington, D.C. area has been home to numerous rugby union teams, including men's, women's, college and high school. Prominent club teams include the Potomac Athletic Club, Washington Rugby Football Club, Washington Irish R.F.C.,and the Maryland Exiles. These two clubs merged in 2014 as the Potomac Exiles Rugby Club The Maryland Terrapins rugby team plays in the Atlantic Coast Rugby League against its traditional ACC rivals. At the high school level, Gonzaga fields one of the strongest programs in the country, and Pride rugby (formerly Hyde rugby) gained national attention as the first rugby program at a predominantly African-American school.

In 2018, it was announced that Paul Sheehy, owner and director of used operations for Sheehy Auto Stores, and Chris Dunlavey, president and co-founder of Brailsford & Dunlavey, have secured the right to launch a D.C.-based Major League Rugby (MLR) team,^[34] named Old Glory DC. The Scottish Rugby Union has a part ownership of the team. The team is coached by Nate Osborne in an interim capacity after former head coach Andrew Douglas departed the club halfway through the 2022 season. Old Glory played an abbreviated schedule of exhibition games in 2019 and began regular-season MLR play in 2020.

Rugby league

The

The Baltimore Washington Eagles played in the United States Australian Football League (USAFL) from 1998 until 2017. That year, the team split into two separate franchises. The DC Eagles became the team representing Washington and the Baltimore Dockers began representing Baltimore.

Running

Washington is home to two annual marathon races: the

The Washington Justice compete in the Overwatch League (OWL) as part of the West region. The team was founded in 2018.

The Washington Wizards host the Wizards District Gaming esports team as part of the NBA 2K League. Wizards District Gaming won the 5v5 championship in 2020 and 2021.

Sports media

The Washington, D.C. area's regional sports television network, Monumental Sports Network, is based in Washington. The Capitals and Wizards air their games on this network. The network also has shows focused on the Commanders.^[37]

The Nationals play their games on MASN, a network they share with the Baltimore Orioles.

The Commanders have a partnership with the classic rock radio station BIG 100.3.

Local sports talk radio stations include 106.7 The Fan, The Team 980, and ESPN 630 D.C. The Sports Junkies are among the most popular shows on The Fan, and they have covered local sports and culture in the D.C. area since 1996.

The primary print news source for local sports coverage is The Washington Post, whose sports section has been written by numerous award-winning journalists over the years.

Washington, D.C. is also home to nationally televised sports shows, including the midnight edition of ESPN's SportsCenter, hosted by Scott Van Pelt, as well as ESPN's Pardon the Interruption, hosted by former Washington Post columnists Michael Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser. Previously, the city was home to ESPN's Around the Horn, and production for the show still occurs in ESPN's Washington studio.

Rivalries

New York City

The rivalries between the sports teams in New York City and Washington, D.C. have been among the best and most historic in the country. Each city's importance in America's media landscape has helped increase the notoriety of these rivalries, as has the fact that many teams in each city play in the same division.

The rivalry with the longest history between teams in each city is the

In the National Hockey League (NHL), strong rivalries exist between the Washington Capitals and the New York Rangers, as well as the Capitals and the New York Islanders. All three compete in the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference. Both the Capitals–Rangers rivalry and Capitals–Islanders rivalry have increased in intensity over the decades as a result of highly competitive playoff matchups, in addition to regular season encounters. Though not as historic and intense as the ones with the two New York-based teams, the New Jersey Devils also play in the Metropolitan Division and are therefore a division rival for the Capitals.

There is also a rivalry between the New York Red Bulls and D.C. United of Major League Soccer (MLS). The teams are among the oldest and most historic teams in the league. This rivalry dates back to 1996, the league's inaugural season. Both teams play in the Eastern Conference and have competed against each other in critical playoff matches over the years. Their rivalry is known as the Atlantic Cup, which is also the name of the trophy awarded to the team that wins the matchup.

The Washington Nationals and New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB) also share a rivalry. Though this rivalry has not existed for as long as the others between teams based in New York and Washington, the two compete in the NL East. This has helped a rivalry develop between the two teams in the years since the Nationals moved to Washington, D.C. in 2005.

Philadelphia

The rivalry between teams in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. has been aided by the fact that the two cities have teams in the same division in the NFL, NHL, MLB, and MLS.

The

The Philadelphia Flyers and the Washington Capitals of the NHL both played in the Patrick Division during the 1980s and early 1990s, during which time the rivalry was extremely intense. Since 2013, both play in the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference. The Capitals–Flyers rivalry has been intense both during the regular season as well as during the playoffs. The teams have met five times in the NHL playoffs. This rivalry dates back to 1974, when the Capitals joined the league.

Since the Nationals moved to Washington, D.C. in 2005, they have had a rivalry with the Philadelphia Phillies, as both compete in the NL East of the MLB. The Philadelphia Union of the MLS have developed an intraconference rivalry with D.C. United.^[38] The Washington Wizards and the Philadelphia 76ers both play in the NBA's Eastern Conference, and the two teams met in the NBA playoffs five times, most recently in 2021. They also met in 1971, when the current Washington franchise was based in Baltimore.

Baltimore

Due to the two cities' proximity to one another, historic and contemporary rivalries have existed between teams from both cities.

From 1972 to 2004, Washington did not have a baseball team; as a result, many baseball fans in the Washington area supported the nearby Baltimore Orioles, making them the de facto baseball team for Washington. When Washington was looking for a team, the ownership of the Orioles disapproved of the effort for fear that they would lose the Washington market to the new team. They were the only team to vote against moving the Montreal Expos to Washington. Therefore, when the Nationals began play in 2005, a natural rivalry was born between the new Washington team and the team that had historic support in the Washington region. This rivalry is known as the Beltway Series, or Battle of the Beltways, due to each city's proximity to the Capital Beltway, a major ring road that circles around Washington and its immediate suburbs. Given that the two teams play in different leagues (the Nationals play in the National League and the Orioles play in the American League), it is a rare interleague rivalry.

The Commanders and Baltimore Ravens of the NFL have a slight rivalry. Though because the two teams play in different conferences (the Commanders play in the National Football Conference and the Ravens play in the American Football Conference), they rarely play against each other in the regular season. However, there generally is a matchup between these two teams every preseason.

See also

• Washington DC Sports Hall of Fame
• District of Columbia Interscholastic Athletic Association
• U.S. cities with teams from four major sports

Notes

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sports in Washington, D.C..

• D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission
• Greater Washington Sports Alliance