Being the nation’s capital, D.C. draws in lots of tourists who come for the monuments, museums, politics and pandas — much of it for free. Now the hope is that visitors are willing to come to the nation’s capital because it’s the sports capital.

In the years after the pandemic, the number of people coming both from within the U.S. and beyond had been spiking. But in 2025 those numbers flatlined, or even declined when it comes to international tourists. But with a series of big sporting events already on the schedule, and dreams of more to come, city leaders are ready to lean into sports as a way to draw in more fans.

“The fact that we’re hosting the NFL’s draft is a big deal,” said Elliott Ferguson, head of Destination D.C., the city’s tourist arm. “The significance of this can be overshadowed by folks that don’t understand what that means. We’re talking a million people coming into the city on purpose to not only benefit and see things that are happening with the draft, but also to participate and just get out in our neighborhoods, which is exactly what we’re going to be focusing on.”

“The momentum is here for us as we look at the million people that are coming to the city and how that gives us a chance to showcase D.C. through a different lens,” he added. “Yes, monuments, memorials, museums play a huge role, but our neighborhoods and our people are what draw other individuals to our destination.”

Other events that were cited included the Savanah Banana’s Banana Bowl, the sports-entertainment group’s first-ever championship game set to take place at Nationals Park next month. The NCAA is holding its college hockey championship, The Frozen Four, at Capital One Arena again in April. And women’s sports are also expected to draw in fans. 

On top of introducing two new members of the professional volleyball squad newly named the D.C. Flight, both with ties to the area, Ferguson noted that the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team is hosting Spain at Audi Field in October, while the National Women’s Soccer League is playing its championship game there in November.

“Washington is really going to be able to take advantage of the momentum tied to the sports teams and specifically the women,” Ferguson said.

“We are a sports town,” said Mayor Muriel Bowser, adding that leaders have spent 12 year’s investing in the city’s moniker to designate D.C. as the sports capital. “We are seeing the payoff by 2030. We’re going to have all of our professional sports teams here.”

Bowser told the audience fun and games still equate to dollars and sense. 

“There’s an opportunity for Washingtonians to truly appreciate the revenue that’s associated with these events coming to the city, the tax dollars being generated, and the jobs being created,” Ferguson said. “People travel for sports. People travel domestically and internationally, and that’s the goal for us as we’re looking at the opportunity there.”

One sports-related area that Ferguson and Bowser didn’t agree with is a plan, floated by D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, to add a roof to Audi Field. The proposal would see Audi Field add about 8,000 seats. The total cost of the additions would be more than $600 million, with D.C. putting up $300 million to help fund the renovations.

“Audi Field plays a huge role in bringing visitors to the city,” Ferguson said during his presentation, which was made at a theater on the campus of George Washington University. “We could host perhaps medium-sized congresses that are looking for general session space, putting them on Metro to get to this facility and staying in hotels.”

Asked about the idea afterward, Bowser, whose time left in office is being measured in weeks not years, poured cold water on the idea, saying it’s something she could never support.

“We always want to be bringing something new. We never want to be cannibalizing one for the other,” said Bowser. “We own the Capital One Arena. It’s about a 20,000 person stadium. To have to recreate that using hundreds of millions of dollars would be better invested someplace else.”

The pivot to sports comes as D.C. noted only about a 20,000 increase in tourists in 2025, after seeing tourism spike by more than a million additional visitors the year before. Ferguson said politics and what gets said by politicians has had an impact.

“National Guard being in the city, negative rhetoric from elected officials in high places … those things impact us,” Ferguson said. “They make people concerned about coming into the U.S. and coming to Washington, D.C. These are things in which we have to focus on. The story changes once people come here.”

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“When we get journalists into the city, and you all host them,” Ferguson said, while addressing representatives from various hotels and restaurants around town. “We bring them to your restaurants and your transportation and all the other things. They leave here with a different perspective. Journalists leave saying D.C. is so walkable, so green. It’s such an amazing destination.”

Still, Ferguson said the negative headlines and imagery is something the city’s tourism industry is continuing to battle against.

Last year, “most of the calls we received were tied to, ‘Should we come? Is it safe?,’” Ferguson said. “Fast forward to now, you have fewer of those calls. Some people still call with some concern, but not to the same extent as before.”

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