If you’re hoping to watch the 2022 Winter Olympics without cable, I have some good news for you: There will be options!
The next iteration of the Olympic Games will begin in Beijing, China, on February 2, 2022, and last until February 20, 2022. Opening ceremonies are scheduled for February 4.
NBCUniversal is the exclusive broadcast rights holder for the Olympics in the United States, so your path to streaming the Games is through access to its channels and streaming services.
Between disruptions to the Games caused by COVID-19, the time difference between Tokyo and the United States and NBC’s programming choices, streaming the 2020 summer games was tough for Olympics fans. Here’s hoping things will be easier this time around.
Team Clark has researched your options for watching Team USA, which ranked fourth in the medal count in the 2018 Winter Olympics, go for the gold in China.
NBC Announces That Winter Olympics TV Broadcasts Will Also Stream Live on Peacock
Here’s the good news NBCUniversal announced in January: For as little as a $5 investment, you can stream all of the Winter Olympic content that your heart desires.
You’ll find the Winter Olympics coverage on the Peacock streaming service. And you’ll even have access to events that don’t make it onto traditional TV.
Peacock will present live streaming coverage of every event of the Winter Olympics including all the events airing on broadcast and cable television. This should give fans a comprehensive Olympics destination for all live action and catch-up on-demand viewing.
In addition to live competition streams across all 15 sports, premium tier customers will also be able to watch the opening and closing ceremonies. The programming will include NBC’s nightly primetime show, full replays of all competition available immediately upon conclusion, exclusive daily studio programming, medal ceremonies, extensive highlight clips, and more.
There is a catch, though. In order to access these streams, you have to subscribe to one of Peacock’s premium plans. The basic version of Peacock, which is free to all users, will not have the Olympics.
Here’s a quick recap of your options:
| Subscription Level | Monthly Cost | Live Winter Olympics Content |
| Free | $0 | No |
| Premium | $4.99 | Yes |
| Ad-Free Premium | $9.99 | Yes |
It’s worth noting that some NBCUniversal customers, such as Xfinity internet subscribers, already get Peacock Premium access free of charge.
Other Streaming Options for the Winter Olympics
If you don’t have a cable or satellite subscription and you don’t want to pay specifically for Peacock, you can watch the television broadcast of the Winter Games by subscribing to a live TV streaming service.
When you’re shopping around for a streaming service to give you the most access to the Olympics, you’ll want to make sure you have a package that includes most of the NBCUniversal-owned channels.
The list of NBCUniversal channels that will air some of the Olympic events includes:
- Your local NBC affiliate
- USA Network
- CNBC
- Olympic Channel
It is worth noting that the NBC Sports Network, which aired many of the Summer Olympic events, no longer exists. This network was shuttered at the end of 2021.
Team Clark has a streaming channel tool that will help you identify the most cost-effective way to stream your favorite channels.
So you could plug the NBCUniversal channels mentioned above into the tool alongside your other “must have” favorites to find the best option for you.
The most cost-effective way to get the necessary channels on a live TV streaming service is by purchasing the Sling TV Blue package with both the News Extra and Sports Extra add-ons. That will cost $52 per month ($35 base package + $11 for sports add-on + $6 for news add-on), but it provides many other channels than those required for Winter Olympics streaming.
You can read more about the channels this Sling Blue package would get you in Team Clark’s review of the Sling TV.
Other options include popular streaming services YouTube TV ($65 per month) or Hulu + Live TV ($70 per month).
NBCOlympics.com is an option for streaming the Winter Games online, but you’ll be asked to provide your cable or streaming service login information to access the live content. Highlights and select replays will be available free of charge.
Final Thoughts on Streaming the 2022 Winter Olympics
If you’re looking for the most cost-effective way to consume a large volume of 2022 Winter Olympics content, I believe a Peacock Premium subscription is clearly the way to go. For just $5 for the month of February, you can get access to all of NBCUniversal’s coverage of the Beijing games.
It appears that NBCUniversal has heard the complaints about problems with its 2020 Summer Olympics programming and plans to up the quality of Peacock coverage this time around.
Sling TV has the most affordable way to stream the required television channels if you want to go the live TV streaming route, but $52 per month is more than 10 times more expensive than using Peacock. You’d need a reason to want the other channels on Sling to justify that expense.
If you’re not interested in paying anything at all, you may be best served by using an antenna to catch the over-the-air broadcast from NBC each day. That’s not going to give you access to everything, but NBC typically does a pretty good job of showing the most popular events of the day. You could also use NBCOlympics.com to check the highlights you missed.
How are you planning to watch the 2022 Winter Olympics? We’d love to hear your tips and tricks in the comments below!
More Clark.com Content You May Like:
