With interest in hockey at a cultural high thanks to Heated Rivalry, now’s the time to travel to even steeper climes for the Winter Olympics 2026. You may not be an athlete, but judging high-intensity athletics—and pretending to know what ski mountaineering is—from the comfort of your couch could be worth a medal of its own.
During the Olympics, audiences will see top athletes from 93 countries across 16 sports competing for gold over the course of roughly three weeks. From the US alone, 232 athletes will descend upon the Milano-Cortina region for the 2026 games, which mark the return of the Winter Olympics to northern Italy after 20 years.
The opening ceremony is slated for Friday, February 6 at Milan’s San Siro Stadium, while the closing ceremony is set to air at an amphitheatre in Verona on February 22. (Several sports, including competitions in curling and ice hockey, begin prior to the opening ceremony on February 4 and 5.)
NBC will broadcast the Olympics live throughout the day, with a nightly prime-time highlights show at 8 p.m. ET, followed by a late-night edition of the day’s top moments. The Winter Games will also welcome various VIPs—both athletes, such as current figure skating world champion Ilia Malinin, and Hollywood heavyweights, including Tom Cruise, who is expected to attend the opening ceremony to promote the upcoming 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Whether you’re watching the competitions themselves, or merely want to fixate on any behind-the-scenes figure skating scandals or partner romances, here’s how to watch the Winter Games from Milano-Cortina.
How to Watch the 2026 Winter Olympics
The 2026 Winter Olympics will be broadcast by NBC. You can also watch events live at your local NBC affiliate, or online at nbcolympics.com (or through the NBC Sports app) by signing in with a cable login.
To stream the Olympics, NBC’s streaming service, Peacock, will also offer livestream options of the Milano-Cortina Winter Games, as well as exclusive Olympic-related content. (If you’re watching from somewhere outside the US, this list of international broadcasters is available.) No cable? No problem. Cord-cutters can stream the Games on Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV, AT&T TV, or FuboTV. The apps and websites of both NBC and NBC Sports will also stream Olympic-centered coverage via the network’s Gold Zone and Multiview programming.
Which Events Will Be Airing?
Here’s the full schedule of events—with sports ranging from those you know and love (hockey, skiing, figure skating) to those perhaps less familiar (for a refresh on the intricacies of curling and luge, here’s a helpful guide.)
What Time Are the Olympics?
Ah, the thrills of watching the Olympics—converting time differences in foreign countries! Milano-Cortina is only 6 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time and 9 hours ahead of Pacific Standard Time, a far gentler disparity than the 13-hour and 16-hour differences for the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022. Some of the highlights and major events will re-air on NBC and Peacock. The official Olympics site also has a schedule of every event, listed in Central European Standard Time (CET)—but you can customize to “my local time” and make a personalized lineup of all the competitions you plan to see.
How Can I Watch the Opening Ceremony?
The Olympics kick off with a star-studded opening ceremony on Friday, February 6, featuring performances from Mariah Carey and Italian recording artist Andrea Bocelli, who returns to the Olympics stage 20 years after his performance at the Turin Olympics in 2006. For the first time ever, there will be simultaneous ceremonies scattered hundreds of miles apart—with a second Olympic cauldron to be lit in the co-host city of Cortina d’Ampezzo.
