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Sports & Recreation


In Greater Washington, joggers, bikers, golfers, kayakers and rock climbers join the ranks of sports fans who can play – or watch – just about any game you can name.

- Professional sports franchises are strongly supported by area residents. The area's new baseball team, the Washington Nationals, sold the equivalent of more than 21,000 full-season tickets prior to the inaugural season. The Washington Redskins average game attendance of more than 80,000 per game ranks first in the NFL.

- The region has approximately 277,470 seats available at major sports stadiums and complexes, including Comcast Center and FedEx Field in Maryland , MCI Center in DC and Patriot Center (at George Mason University ) in Northern Virginia .

- Greater Washington ranks third among the top ten soccer markets in the country, with more than 600,000 participants, both kids and adults.

- In the past five years, Greater Washington has gained 450 new holes of golf at nearly 30 new facilities. For a golfer who plays 18 holes per day, it will take 167 days, 23.9 weeks or slightly less than six months to complete Greater Washington’s entire golf circuit.

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