2020 Tokyo Olympics: How to stream the summer games

A year later than planned, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics are finally happening! And yes, that’s the official name still. Officially, the Games begin this Friday, July 23, and end on August 8. However, a few Olympic events in Japan, like softball and soccer matches, have started already. 

Due to the ongoing pandemic, the organizers of the Games have made the decision to not have any live spectators at the events for the first time in Olympics history. If you are an Olympic Games junkie, the fact that you won’t be able to physically attend isn’t going to matter. NBC will be broadcasting and/or streaming thousands of hours of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics over the next few weeks, so you won’t be missing out on the action.

You can keep up with the Games on your traditional TV, along with your smart TV, smartphone, tablet, or pretty much any device where you can watch sports. Here’s a quick look at how you can stream the Games from anywhere.

2020 Tokyo Olympics on Peacock

NBC has been waiting for a year to show off what its Peacock streaming service can offer Olympic fans. Now the summer Games have finally arrived and Peacock is going all out. If you sign up for Peacock you will be able to live stream over 5,000 hours of Olympic competition. That includes live coverage of major events such as Men’s and Women’s Gymnastics, Swimming, Track and Field, and much more. If you miss anything when it goes live, don’t worry. Peacock will also have highlights and full event replays from the major events for you to watch on demand.

The best part? Almost all of Peacock’s 2020 Tokyo Olympics live coverage will be available to stream for free. The only events that will require a paid Peacock Premium subscription to watch and stream live will be the Team USA Men’s Basketball matches. If you absolutely can’t be without the USA Men’s Basketball matches, Peacock Premium costs $4.99 a month with ads, or $9.99 a month without ads.

In addition to the live coverage of the games, Peacock will also feature a number of exclusive daily shows and specials. The daily shows include Tokyo Gold, Tokyo Live,  Tokyo Tonight, and On Her Turf which will be devoted to covering women’s sports.

A number of live streaming channels will also be added to Peacock during the Games, devoted to several topics:

• Great Moments: A look back at the biggest moments of past Olympic Games
• Meet the Olympians: Profiles of great Olympic athletes
• Must-See Moments: Another look at some of the most memorable Olympic highlights
• Team USA: Highlights of the USA’s best Olympic moments.
• Tokyo Flame: A live stream of Tokyo’s Olympic flame

The service will also have a number of specials to watch on demand before and after the Games. They include

• The ’96 Effect
• Michael Phelps: Medals Memories and More
• The Greatest Race
• In Deep with Ryan Lochte
• My Pursuit: Life, Legacy & Jordan Burroughs
• For Ball and Country
• Golden
• The Sisters of ’96
• Olympic Highlights with Kevin Hart and Snoop Dogg

As you can see, Peacock is going to be the best play to watch live Olympic coverage from Tokyo, NBC also hopes that people who sign up will stick around after the games to watch shows like The Office and Parks and Recreation, along with exclusive shows and movies such as The Boss Baby 2 and the recently dropped crime limited series Dr. Death.

2020 Tokyo Olympics on NBC and other cable channels

If you don’t want to use Peacock to keep up with the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, there are other options available to you. If you have a cable or satellite TV subscription, you can watch the Games on NBC, along with many of its sister cable TV channels such as NBCSN, Golf Channel, USA, Telemundo, CNBC, Universo, and the Olympic Channel. You can also sign into the NBC Sports app on your smart TV, smartphone, or tablet to watch coverage of the games if you have a confirmed cable or satellite TV subscription.

You can also watch NBC’s coverage of the Games via internet-based live streaming services such as YouTube TV, Hulu Plus Live TV, Fubo TV, Sling TV, and others.

Read more: Best live streaming TV services

Watch on Roku devices

If you own a Roku streaming stick, set-top box, or a smart TV with the Roku OS, you will be able to quickly access and watch coverage of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Once the Games begin, you can access free highlights of the events from the Roku home screen. Before the games begin on July 23, you can click on the 2020 Tokyo Olympics section on the home screen to see a countdown clock for the opening ceremonies. Once the Games officially begin, that same section will turn into a medal count graph for each country’s team.

Don’t have a Roku? Roku is also offering discounts for many of its set-top boxes and streaming sticks at the moment.

Read more: Best Roku streaming devices

Watch on Amazon Fire TV devices

Peacock was just added to Amazon Fire TV-based streaming sticks, set-top boxes and smart TVs a few weeks ago. That means owners of those devices will also be able to get a quick and easy way to access the 2020 Tokyo Olympics game coverage. Starting July 22, Fire TV owners will see a dedicated page on the home screen, where they can sign into Peacock, NBC Sports, or the live streaming service of their choice to watch the Olympics.

Amazon has also discounted many of its Insigna and Toshiba-based Fire TV smart televisions, for as low as $109.99. There’s also a big $50 discount on the Anker Nebula Fire TV soundbar at the moment.