Don’t Miss the Tokyo Olympics Opening Ceremony: Here’s How to Watch Live and on Replay

By Tobey Grumet Segal @tgrumet
Published July 23, 2021, 6:15 p.m. ET
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The Tokyo Olympics are finally here. After a year’s delay (yes, they are still called the 2020 Summer Olympics), we will finally be able to watch the top athletes of our time competing in the Games of the XXXII Olympiad beginning Friday, July 23. If they haven’t been knocked out by COVID, that is.

Although this will be a year like no other, with foreign spectators banned from watching the games live and a Coronavirus cluster within the Olympic Village, these amazing athletes are revved up and ready to give all they’ve got.

What do you need to know to start off right and catch the splashy Tokyo Olympics Opening Ceremony? Firstly, it begins at 8 p.m. local Japanese time on July 23, which means it aired live on NBC earlier today. That said, if you missed the live festivities (we see you, lazybones) you can catch the Primetime Opening Ceremony at 7:30 p.m. ET and another Overnight Replay at 1:38 a.m. ET.

NBC’s free Peacock streaming service will also be showing lots and lots of Tokyo Olympics action, and if you aren’t already a Peacock subscriber, you may want to sign up now. Here, you can watch certain events every morning, like women’s gymnastics and track and field. For others, however, you’ll have to stick to highlights as well as some documentaries. The always-on Tokyo NOW Channel also started streaming this week, allowing you to begin enjoying the games as early as 6 a.m. ET. And in addition, there are another five dedicated Olympic Channels featuring curated historical moments, athlete profiles, highlights and even a livestream of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics flame.

Interested in a deeper dive, and maybe the USA basketball? Then you’ll  need to fork over the $4.99/month to subscribe to Peacock Premium. This will give you the men’s and women’s Tokyo Olympics basketball as well as select replays as all the Premier League soccer games and even the NTT IndyCar series.

Stream the Tokyo Olympics on Peacock