The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games are taking place in 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic, but thanks to live streaming, there are more ways to watch than ever before. The two-week event kicks off on Wednesday, July 21 and runs through Aug. 8 in its host city of Tokyo, Japan.
Among the stars expected to compete for Team USA include Megan Rapinoe, along with the dominant U.S. Women’s national soccer team, who have won the last two FIFA Women’s World Cup, but look to rebound from a disappointing fifth place finish at the 2016 Olympics in Brazil after taking home gold in the prior three Olympic Games. Kevin Durant an Damian Lillard will represent the U.S. in men’s basketball, while rising WNBA star A’ja Wilson should compete for the women’s team.
Meanwhile, tennis phenom Naomi Osaka, who had dual citizenship in the U.S. and Japan, will compete in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics representing the host country.
You may have a lot of questions about how and when to watch the 2021 Olympics, so read on below for some answers.
When are the Tokyo Olympics? Competitions run from July 21 to Aug. 8. You can see a full competition schedule on the Tokyo Olympics website.
When is the opening ceremony? The opening ceremony will take place on Friday, July 23 at 7 a.m. ET/4 a.m. PT. If you’re not an early bird, the ceremony will be re-broadcast at 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT on NBC. For the first time, NBC will also air the opening ceremony live coast-to-coast beginning at 7 a.m. ET/4 a.m. PT.
The closing ceremony, meanwhile, will be on Aug. 8 at 8 p.m. Japanese Standard Time, which is 7 a.m. ET/ 4 a.m. PT.
How to watch or stream the Olympics: NBC will broadcast the Olympics, with additional coverage on NBCOlympics.com and on the NBC Sports app. Another way to watch the games are on Peacock, NBCUniversal’s streaming service.
Peacock’s Olympic coverage will be on the service’s Tokyo NOW channel and begin streaming on July 24, with live competition’s from 6-11 a.m. ET on Tokyo LIVE, followed by Tokyo Gold from 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. PT, featuring big moments from the days’ competitions. Two more programs will also stream On Her Turf at the Olympics — which focuses on female athletes — will stream from 7-7:30 p.m. ET, and Tokyo Tonight will bring all the highlights of the day from 7:30 p.m. to midnight ET.
You can subscribe to Peacock, which has a free tier, to get Olympic coverage, and NBC is available on several live TV streaming services, including Sling TV, fuboTV, Hulu With Live TV, AT&T TV and YouTube TV. Sling’s Blue package with Sports Extra, fuboTV and YouTube TV specifically have the Olympic Channel, which has some additional coverage of the Games.
