How to Live Stream the Olympics

In order to easily steam the Olympics, you’ll need apps (see links below) and a current cable subscription. If you don’t have a cable subscription you can, if you want, resort to some trouble to stream the Olympics. If all feels lost, take heart, you can resort to the non-streamable method: the antenna.

The Easiest Way to Stream the Olympics

NBC has an exclusive contract for airing the Olympics so you have to deal with any restrictions NBC has put into place.

The Olympics will include 4500 total hours of sports content broadcast on NBC, NBCSN and across the networks of NBC Universal.

You can access this content through your cable television provider (that is, plain old cable TV) or on the NBC Sports app on any mobile device. Registering is easy, but you do need to enter your cable subscriber email and password, if you have one.

Use a VPN to Stream the Olympics

If going through a cable provide for NBC's Olympics stream isn't another option for you, you still have choices. One of those is to use a VPN from another country. A VPN or Virtual Private Network allows you to hide where you are located. So, if you chose a country where the streaming right are less controlled than the U.S., you’ll be able to get a stream of the Olympics and also get the stream for no cost.

Setting up a VPN might sound a little intimidating, but it’s not.

Services like TunnelBear and StrongVPN are easier to use than you might think, so they are worth investigating to see if they’ll meet your needs. There are also several others you can use. If you’d like to learn a little more about VPNs, check out this article on the basics of VPN.

The cost catch: By and large, access to VPNs not free.

Those that do charge a fee, however, are usually less expensive than what it would cost you to have even a single month's access to cable or other television providers. So, while using a virtual private network won't be completely free, it's still a good choice for low-cost streaming of the Olympics.

Watching the Olympics an Antenna

If cable TV is a no-go, and you don’t want to bother with VPNs, your last option to see the Olympics won’t allow you to stream it. That option is an antenna. Before you go shopping for an antenna, take a look around your home or apartment building. Why? Maybe there’s already an antenna in place. Old homes and apartment buildings might already have the antenna and cables in place, so it’s worth checking out.

There is one caveat with using an antenna. You probably won't get all of the Olympic sporting events. There are a few events, like the opening and closing ceremonies (which will take place in Pyeongchang, South Korea, in 2018) that will be shown exclusively on NBC network channels. But you can get most of the events, including the main events, which are often the most popular.