How to watch the 2020 Tokyo Olympics Opening Ceremony in prime time

Liz Roscher

Tue, July 20, 2021, 6:32 PM

After a one-year wait, the Tokyo Olympics are finally here. While it’s being held without fans in attendance, that won’t impact all of us who are planning to virtually attend from home — watching on our TVs, computers, tablets, and phones.

The festivities officially get underway with the Opening Ceremony on Friday, but events start happening earlier in the week and really kick off on Saturday. How can you watch the Opening Ceremony and the many, many events that will happen over the next two weeks? Here’s what you need to know to make sure you don’t miss a precious second.

How to watch the Opening Ceremony

Tokyo is 13 hours ahead of the Eastern time zone in the U.S., which means the Opening Ceremony was broadcast live as it was happening on Friday morning. 

But if you missed it, it's not too late for you to watch. NBC is rebroadcasting the Opening Ceremony in prime time starting at 7:30 p.m. ET. You can also catch that rebroadcast streaming on NBCOlympics.com. And neither of those times work, or if you're up late with a newborn, NBC will be rebroadcasting it overnight. 

Olympic rings at Odori Park ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Sapporo Hokkaido, Japan. (Photo by Masashi Hara/Getty Images)

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How to watch other Olympic events

As it has in the past, NBC is doing a full court press for the Olympics. It's using most of its networks to broadcast Olympics programming: NBC, NBC Sports, the Olympic Channel, the Golf Channel, CNBC, USA, Telemundo, and Universo. And for the first time, you’ll be able to watch Olympics coverage on Peacock, NBC’s streaming service. Peacock will be streaming multi-sport coverage and medal races essentially 24 hours a day from July 24 through Aug. 7. You don't need a paid subscription to watch the vast majority of events on Peacock; everything but men's basketball will be free to watch. 

You can find a full schedule here, but below is a quick primer on when and where you can catch the most anticipated sports of the Games. 

Basketball

When to watch: July 24-Aug. 8

Where to watch: CNBC, NBC Sports, NBC Olympics, Peacock

Gymnastics

When to watch: July 23-Aug. 23

Where to watch: NBC Sports, NBC Olympics, Peacock

Swimming

When to watch: July 24-Aug. 4

Where to watch: NBC Sports, NBC Olympics, Peacock

Track and field

When to watch: July 29-Aug. 7

Where to watch: CNBC, NBC Olympics

Soccer

When to watch: July 24-Aug. 7

Where to watch: NBC Sports, NBC Olympics, Peacock

Beach volleyball

When to watch: July 23-Aug. 6

Where to watch: CNBC, NBC Olympics

Skateboarding

When to watch: July 24-Aug. 4

Where to watch: NBC Sports, NBC Olympics

Diving

When to watch: July 25-Aug. 7

Where to watch: CNBC, NBC Sports, NBC Olympics

Surfing

When to watch: July 24-31

Where to watch: NBC Sports, NBC Olympics