The 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan are underway for the next two weeks, and for those who have finished preparing for it, there are plenty of ways to watch all the action without a traditional cable or satellite TV subscription.
Also: Best Live TV Streaming Services
How to watch the 2026 Winter Olympics live (or without cable)
nbcuniversal Will provide daily coverage of the most exciting winter sports events. The Games will feature 17 days of competition, ending on February 22, with approximately 2,900 athletes from more than 90 countries competing. Overall, NBC says it plans to present live coverage from all 116 medal events. This will include live coverage of skiing, ice skating, luge, curling and more. The major events will air between 9am and 6pm ET on NBC. Olympics coverage will preempt all other shows.
Too: best tv antennas
If you don’t have a cable package, you have a few options for watching the Olympics: You can watch Subscribe to Peacock $11 per month to watch every show live. Or, you can buy an over-the-air (OTA) antenna, and watch NBC for free. This is a great option if you live within range of a broadcast tower. You can also watch the opening and closing ceremonies, some medal ceremonies and highlights for free nbc olympics Website.
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The best way to watch the Olympics is to stream on Peacock Premium for $11 per month (with ads). It’s important to note that the basic plan, Peacock Select for $8 per month, does not include live sports coverage like the Olympics.
With Peacock, you can live stream all 116 events. To help you watch, Peacock will offer features like Live Action, which lets you set prompts to jump to new activities, and Discovery Multiview, which allows you to stream up to four sports simultaneously. You can also create a viewing schedule, search by sport or athlete and stay up to date with all the medals and awards.
New for the 2026 Winter Olympics, Peacock will offer a Rinkside Live feature that mimics traditional broadcasts, offering a dynamic vertical view of the ice skaters right on your phone, as well as live highlights and multiple camera angles. If you’re watching on your TV, tablet or laptop, you can see all camera angles simultaneously through Rinkside.
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You can watch all the Olympic channels you need to watch the games – CNBC, NBC, NBCSN, Olympic Channel and USA – on DirecTV, even at its lowest price tier, the $90 entertainment package.
Plus, DirecTV includes unlimited cloud DVR storage. With this, you can keep as many DVR recordings as you want for up to nine months.
You can watch a game or any other show on up to 20 streaming devices simultaneously on your home network. Away from home, you can share your stream with up to three other devices.
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Hulu + Live TV offers an attractive combination of on-demand video and live TV for $90 per month after a three-day free trial. For Olympics watchers, it offers your local NBC channel, CNBC, NBCSN, Olympic Channel, and USA.
Hulu also offers upgraded Cloud DVR, increasing available DVR storage from 50 hours to 200 hours. This should prove to be very useful for games. Plus, you can store an unlimited number of videos in your Cloud DVR collection for up to nine months.
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I like Sling TV’s à la carte approach to channels. I enjoy picking and choosing channels, but I know some people find it more confusing than useful. That said, for Olympic, you’ll be able to make do with Sling Blue, which costs $55 per month. Right now, you can get the orange and blue package for $35 per month for your first month, so you can choose this option and cancel it after the Olympics is over.
It takes some digging, but Sling TV does offer NBC and USA in “select areas.” Those people? Good question. this page Will let you see what’s available, but doesn’t explain the logic. For example, it tells me I can’t get FOX, NBC, or ABC, even though they are available OTA in my area.
If you are considering Sling TV, you will need to check out the above page if you want to watch the Olympic Games.
Sling TV’s default cloud DVR offers 50 hours free. You can upgrade to 200 hours for $5 per month. The video is shown in 720p. With the Sling Orange plan, you can only watch a single stream, and with Sling Blue, you can watch shows on three devices simultaneously. Combined, you can stream your show to up to four devices.
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With over 100 live TV channels, YouTube TV offers more popular channels than its competitors, and this includes all the relevant channels: NBC, USA Network, CNBC, and more. For a limited time, new users can get two months of YouTube TV for $60 per month, which is a discount of $23 per month.
By CNET’s count, out Top 100 Live TV Networks, YouTube TV offers the most channels78, of any streaming service. YouTubeTV’s DVR is also excellent. With its help you can record as many shows as you want. The only restriction is that they will disappear after nine months. I can live with that.
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How to Watch the Winter Olympics Online From Anywhere Using a VPN
If you’re outside the US and want to watch NBC’s coverage specifically, you may need to use a VPN to stream the Olympic Games. nordvpn Our tested pick for the best VPN for streaming.
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If you want to stream US coverage of the Olympic Games outside the country, you’ll need to use a Virtual Private Network (VPN). Our tested pick for the best VPN for streaming
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Quick Tips for Streaming the Winter Olympics When Using a VPN
If you’re interested in using a VPN, setting up the service will depend on the VPN provider, your contract, and the devices you want to protect. To set up a VPN, you first need to subscribe to a VPN service and download VPN software. You can visit the official website of the VPN service, or you may receive a download link via email. Alternatively, visit Google Play or the App Store for mobile app options.
Open the software, grant all the associated permissions required for the VPN and sign in using your credentials.
Too: best free vpn
Select a server location and connect to the VPN. In this example, you can select NordVPN’s “…” button to select a server from the list of countries. Most VPNs will give you a “smart” location set by default, which is usually close to home.
Yes, you’ll be able to watch US overtime games outside the country, but no matter which service you use, you’ll need a Virtual Private Network (VPN). This is because NBC only has the rights to show the game in the US. To bypass these restrictions, you will need to use a VPN to make it appear that you are watching the game inside the US. How to use a VPN to stream the Olympics:
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Download and install a VPN: ZDNET has several recommended streaming VPNs. Named ZDNET nordvpn The best VPN for streaming, but we also recommend expressvpn As another option.
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Connect to the appropriate server location: Open the VPN app and select a location in the US.
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Finally, go to your streaming service and start watching the games.
Too: The Best VPN Services (And How to Choose the Right VPN for You)
Or, if you want to watch using your normal US streaming service, you can stream the game from your home streaming service with most VPNs.
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Australia: In Oz, You Can Watch the Olympics nine network And its streaming brother, 9 now. The network will have select live coverage of the Olympics, and you can watch highlights on-demand on the network’s streaming service, 9 now.
Canada: The Olympics will be broadcast in Canada on CBC. they will be shown for free cbc gems streaming service also TOU.tv.
UK: The BBC will broadcast the 2026 Games on its free-to-air channels, BBC One and BBC Two. You can also follow the action live from Paris bbc iplayer. If you want to see more sports, you’ll need Discovery PlusWhich provides more hours of live coverage on different channels.
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The least expensive way to watch the game is with an antenna (see my top picks for the best TV antennas here). You can also watch some Olympics nbc olympics site.
You can also get a five-day free trial from YouTube TV, and Hulu Live TV offers a three-day free trial.
If you can’t watch the game with an antenna and don’t subscribe to a streaming service, there’s another inexpensive way to do so: Get Peacock.
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The 2026 Olympics closing ceremony will take place on Sunday, February 22 at 2 pm ET, or 8 pm GMT.
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For detailed schedule and updates, visit here nbcolympics.com or officer Milan Olympics website. I guarantee the schedule will change, so if there’s a game you follow closely, keep an eye on what’s being shown and when. Enjoy the games!
