Cue the dramatic drum intro and aerial shots of Paris: Welcome ... to the 2024 Summer Olympics! And just in the knick of time, too. We're in a sports dead zone right now, with the only options sleepy midseason baseball games or Jordan Love contract watch – which is like sports for accountants. But now here to save us is two weeks of athletic greatness and sports so compelling we all become amateur experts in games we just learned existed. (Cut to me watching synchronized diving for the first time in four years, yelling at the screen aghast at the competitors' splash size and over-rotation.)
However, as with every sport in this modern media landscape, figuring out when and where you can actually catch it all can be as convoluted and twisted as one of those gymnastics vault routines. So, to help, here's a guide to watching this year's Olympics – whether you're cheering on just from your couch at home or with a crowd at a local establishment.
How to watch at home
The only thing more exhausting and challenging than watching (much less playing) water polo? Trying to figure out when the games are actually on live and when you can see the gold-medal Olympic moments as they happen. So here's a quick run through the timing of this year's games.
In case you haven't heard, the Summer Olympics are making like Emily from Netflix and calling Paris home – great for scenic vistas, less great for watching things live here in America. France is seven hours away from the central time zone, which means most of the live games will take place in the morning and afternoon – so if you're looking to watch things as they actually unfold, with little risk of spoilers, that's your Olympic-watching sweet spot.
Television
As is tradition, NBC will serve as the most common hub for watching the biggest events and games for the next two weeks. During the morning and afternoon, the network is expected to show at least nine hours of Olympics coverage across all sorts of games and athletic action – sometimes live, sometimes pre-recorded to show the most exciting, anticipated material. (You can find what time each event and round will start right here.) Then, at night, NBC will show some of the day's biggest highlights and most triumphant moments with "Primetime in Paris," along with entertaining insight and those inspirational stories we love about the Olympics.
Along with NBC, several of their sister cable networks – USA, E!, CNBC, Telemundo and Golf Channel – will join in on Olympics coverage for the next two weeks too, showing a variety of games live and pre-recorded. According to NBC-Universal, USA will mostly show events with long-round formats – such as basketball, water polo, soccer, volleyball, cycling, rugby and more – while CNBC will focus on boxing, cycling, rugby and skateboarding. (Because when I think financial news, I think skateboarding.) E! will also host a variety of Olympic games, from canoeing, equestrian, gymnastics, track and field, fencing, water polo, the brand new Olympic competition of breaking and more. Only Golf Channel will have a specific event locked in throughout the Olympics: You guessed it, golf.
Partner Pick
Peacock
If you really want to watch as much Olympics as possible – not the pre-packaged storylines or travelogue segments, the live and uncut thrill of just the games themselves – you want Peacock.
Yes, while NBC may be the flagship station for coverage, their streaming service will serve as the true home of the Olympic games this year, broadcasting every single event live – from major gold medal events to competitions you didn't even know existed – across the next few weeks. That's more than 5,000 hours and all 329 medal events.
Peacock's premium package currently costs $7.99 a month, while their premium plus version – the one mostly without ads – costs $13.99 a month. Considering the amount of games, though, and considering NBC's usual primetime coverage will mostly be tape-delayed (and likely entertainment-focused) with the time difference, for those looking to watch the events themselves, it's the best option for Olympics fans.
Here's a list of what days each event is expected to take place; for specific times for each contest, click here.
- Archery – July 28 through Aug. 4
- Artistic Swimming – Aug. 5-10
- Badminton – July 27 through Aug. 5
- Basketball – July 27 through Aug. 11
- Men's gold medal match: Saturday, Aug. 10 at 2:30 p.m.
- Women's gold medal match: Sunday, Aug. 11 at 8:30 a.m.
- Basketball 3x3 – July 30 through Aug. 5
- Beach Volleyball – July 27 through Aug. 10
- Women's gold medal match: Friday, Aug. 9 at 3:30 p.m.
- Men's gold medal match: Saturday, Aug. 10 at 3:30 p.m.
- Boxing – July 27 through Aug. 4 and Aug. 6-
- 10
- Breaking – Aug. 9-10
- Canoeing – July 27 through Aug. 10
- Cycling – July 27 through Aug. 11
- Diving – July 27, 29 and 31; Aug. 2 and 5-10
- Equestrian – July 27 through Aug. 6
- Fencing – July 27 through Aug. 4
- Field Hockey – July 27 through Aug. 9
- Golf – Aug. 1-4, 7-10
- Gymnastics – July 27 through Aug. 1, Aug. 3-5
- Men's team final: Monday, July 29 at 10:30 a.m.
- Women's team final: Tuesday, July 30 at 11:15 a.m.
- Men's all-around final: Wednesday, July 31 at 10:30 a.m.
- Women's all-around final: Thursday, Aug. 1 at 11:15 a.m.
- Handball – July 27 through Aug. 4, Aug. 6-11
- Judo – July 27 through Aug. 3
- Modern Pentathlon – Aug. 8-11
- Rhythmic Gymnastics – Aug. 8-10
- Rowing – July 27 through Aug. 3
- Rugby – July 27-30
- Sailing – July 28 through Aug. 8
- Shooting – July 27 through Aug. 5
- Skateboarding – July 27-28 and Aug. 6-7
- Soccer – July 27-28 and 30-31; Aug. 2-3, 5-6, 8-10
- Men's gold final: Friday, Aug. 9 at 11 a.m.
- Women's gold final: Saturday, Aug. 10 at 10 a.m.
- Sport Climbing – Aug. 6-10
- Surfing – July 27-30
- Swimming – July 27 through Aug. 4
- Finals races each day at 1:30 p.m.; 11:30 a.m. on Aug. 4
- Table Tennis – July 27 through Aug. 10
- Taekwondo – Aug. 7-10
- Tennis – July 27 through Aug. 4
- Track & Field – Aug. 1-11
- Women's 100m finals: Saturday, Aug. 3 at noon
- Men's 100m finals: Sunday, Aug. 4 at 11:30 a.m.
- Trampoline – Aug. 2
- Triathlon – July 30-31 and Aug. 5
- Volleyball – July 27 through Aug. 11
- Water Polo – July 27 through Aug. 11
- Weightlifting – Aug. 7-11
- Wrestling – Aug. 5-8
Where to watch in Milwaukee
The Olympics are all about gathering people from across the globe together – so why not watch the games this summer with your fellow fans? Here are a few spots around Milwaukee with plans to show the Olympics:
AMC Mayfair
2500 N. Mayfair Rd., (414) 777-0467
amctheatres.com
What could be a bigger blockbuster than the Olympics? Indeed, watch the big games on the big screen at the AMC Mayfair, which will host watch parties in one of its auditoriums throughout the Paris games – starting on Saturday, July 27 with the swimming finals and beach volleyball. For tickets and showtimes, click here.
Camp Bar Shorewood
4044 N. Oakland Ave., (414) 962-5182
campbarmke.com/shorewood
People wanting to cheer on the U.S. will want to camp out at Camp Bar's Shorewood location these next few weeks, as the woodsy-themed hangout will be a little more Parisian-influenced with the Paris Olympics regularly showing on their TV screens.
The Highbury
2322 S. Kinnickinnic Ave., (414) 350-3007
facebook.com/highbury.milwaukee/
This Bay View favorite is always a great spot for watching international competition – so of course they're in on the Olympics. Since it is a soccer bar, most of the Highbury's attention will likely be on the soccer competitions over in France – but with several screens around the bar, access to Peacock and regular morning hours, no matter your event of choice, The Highbury should rate highly on your Olympic viewing destinations list.
Potawatomi Casino Hotel
1721 W. Canal St., (800) 729-7244
paysbig.com
When you have one of the largest screens in the state dedicated to sports, yeah, you're gonna be a hot spot during the ultimate global sporting event. Indeed, the Potawatomi Sportsbook will utilize much of its gigantic, eye-catching screen set-up to show the Olympic games over these next several weeks, with Peacock and the ability to switch any of its plethora of screens to an event of choice. And why yes, you can bet on the Olympics too while you're there.
As much as it is a gigantic cliché to say that one has always had a passion for film, Matt Mueller has always had a passion for film. Whether it was bringing in the latest movie reviews for his first grade show-and-tell or writing film reviews for the St. Norbert College Times as a high school student, Matt is way too obsessed with movies for his own good.
When he's not writing about the latest blockbuster or talking much too glowingly about "Piranha 3D," Matt can probably be found watching literally any sport (minus cricket) or working at - get this - a local movie theater. Or watching a movie. Yeah, he's probably watching a movie.
