NBC Sports Has Big Plans For The 2026 Winter Games From Italy
As we finish counting up how many people watched the Super Bowl, NBC Sports is announcing its plans for the next big deal, the 2026 Olympics from Milan and Cortina, Italy. Those plans call for more hours of coverage on broadcast, as well as live streaming coverage of all sports and events streaming on Peacock.
The 2026 Olympics, which start in about a year on Feb. 6, will be part of an intense February for NBC Sports, which will also be televising Super Bowl LX on Feb. 8 and the NBA All Star Game on Feb. 15. Olympic closing ceremonies are set for Feb. 22, 2026.
Streaming has become a growing force in sports, and NBC Sports plans to follow the successful playbook it used during the 2024 Paris Summer games. Peacock has been dubbed the streaming home of the Winter Games and will stream all 116 metal events live — including early morning alpine skiing. Peacock will also feature full-event replays, all linear programming (including NBC), video clips, virtual channels, exclusive original programming and all the high-tech bells and whistles.
Peacock is also bringing back the Gold Zone whip-around program and its Multiview feature, which were popular during the Paris games.
Broadcast will also have a big part, with more hours on NBC than any previous Winter Olympics. NBC will have at least five hours of Olympic programming during the daytime daypart, when many events will be live (just like in Paris). In primetime, NBC will have three hours of programming each night featuring storytelling around the top sports and competitors.
NBCUniversal parent Comcast is spinning off most of its cable networks, but some of those channels remain part of the Olympic coverage plan. USA Network will be the home of Team USA and CNBC will have coverage in the evenings and weekends. No word on how Bravo, the cable network Comcast and NBCU will be holding onto, will participate in the games.
“Paris proved that the Olympics are back and remain an unrivaled media property, with the unique ability to captivate the nation and generate huge audiences across all demographics for 17 days and nights,” said NBC Sports President Rick Cordella. “We expect Milan Cortina to carry on that legacy. The time zone allows us to mimic our Paris programming and coverage strategy on NBC and Peacock, which was widely praised and highly consumed. Team USA is poised to have one of its strongest Winter Olympic teams in years, and America has always been fascinated with Italy, its culture, food, and scenery. Milan Cortina has all the ingredients to produce yet another unforgettable Olympics one year from now.”
NBCUniversal owns the U.S. media rights to the Olympic Games through 2032, including Los Angeles (2028), French Alps (2030), and Brisbane (2032) as part of a $7.65 billion deal.
NBCU will also be covering the Milan Cortina Paralympics, which take place March 6–15, 2026.