If you’re a sports fan, you have arrived at Georgetown at the right time. It is a huge year for sports in Washington, D.C. For the first time in years, all four of the city’s major sports teams could be competitive, and this spring, D.C. will host the NCAA Division I ice hockey championship and the NFL draft. Perhaps most importantly, this season could be the last chance to see Washington Capitals star forward Alex Ovechkin play.
D.C. is one of only 12 U.S. cities that have every “Big Four” sports team — NFL, NHL, NBA and MLB. Three of the four, the Washington Capitals, Wizards and Nationals, play their respective ice hockey, basketball and baseball in the District. The Caps and Wizards play downtown at Capital One Arena — home of the Georgetown Hoyas — while the Nats play on the banks of the Anacostia River at Nationals Park. The Washington Spirit and D.C. United, professional soccer teams that compete in the NWSL and MLS play near the Nationals at Audi Field. The Washington Mystics, D.C.’s WNBA team, play at CareFirst Arena, across the Anacostia River.
All these urban venues are easily accessible by Metro. Capital One Arena is located right downtown, a ten-minute walk from a Georgetown University Transportation Services bus stop. There are plenty of restaurants and bars around the arena, so making a day or night out of Caps and Wizards games is easy. Like Capital One Arena, Nationals Park is surrounded by the Navy Yard, home to tons of hip restaurants. The only major team that plays outside the city and far from public transportation is the Washington Commanders, who play at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Md., 15 miles east of Georgetown.
The Capitals will be must-see TV this fall. Fans will pack Capital One night after night to see new star forwards Alex Tuch and Jordan Kyrou and witness Ovechkin’s swan song in the NHL. During his 21-year career with the Capitals, Ovechkin has scored 929 goals, the most in NHL history, won the league’s MVP award three times and led the Capitals to a Stanley Cup win in 2018.
The Wizards are also drawing excitement after acquiring guard Trae Young and forward Anthony Davis in trades and selecting forward AJ Dybantsa No. 1 overall in the NBA draft. While they have missed the playoffs the last five seasons and been the Eastern Conference’s worst team the last two, the prospect of combining new acquisitions with the team’s current core is exciting fans.
After years of toiling at the bottom of the National League, the Nationals might also be on the up. Young stars shortstop CJ Abrams and outfielder James Wood are doing their best to out-bat an ailing pitching core as the Nats sit around .500, making their games particularly high-scoring.
Meanwhile, the Commanders are looking to rebound from a disappointing 5-12 finish last season and return to the form of quarterback Jayden Daniels’ 2024 rookie season, when the team finished 12-5 and made it to the NFC Championship. If Daniels and new offensive coordinator David Blough mesh well and rookie linebacker Sonny Styles — the Commanders’ No. 7 overall pick in this year’s draft — can help the defense improve, Washington could make noise in the NFC East.
D.C. is not just home to its local teams, however. It is also a magnet for premier national sporting events. In February 2027, Capital One will host the NCAA Frozen Four, the Division I men’s ice hockey championship. Two semifinal games and the national championship will be played at the arena in front of 18,000 fans, who travel from around the country to represent their teams. D.C. has not hosted the event since 2009, when the Boston University Terriers beat the Miami University RedHawks in the national championship.
The other major event this spring is the NFL draft, which will take place on the National Mall from April 29 to May 1. Tickets will be free and it should be a great spectacle, especially if it coincides with cherry blossom season on the Tidal Basin. D.C. has not hosted the draft since 1941, so it has been a long time coming for a city that comes together over its football team — if nothing else.
Washington has thousands of loyal, passionate sports fans who have been through thick and thin with their teams, and this year could be a good one for many of them. Going to sporting events in the city is a real pleasure, and should you have more of a sporting appetite than Georgetown Athletics provides, there are plenty of great ways to dive into sports in D.C.