Are the Paralympics Airing on TV? Here's How You Can Watch the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games
Aug. 24 2021, Published 1:20 p.m. ET
With 539 events across 22 sports held at 21 venues, the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games celebrates the unmatched achievements of 4,403 athletes hailing from 160 countries. Kicking off with an opening ceremony at Japan's National Stadium on Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2021, at 8 p.m. JST (7 a.m. EST), the event brings the best of the Paralympians into focus. Are the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games on TV? Here's where you can watch.
Are the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games on TV?
In 2011, NBC closed one of the most expensive deals in the history of the Olympics, paying the International Olympic Committee a whopping $4.38 billion in exchange for the broadcasting rights to four Olympics in the U.S. starting with the 2014 Winter Olympics held in Sochi, Russia. In 2014, the network extended the deal to 2032, paying a reported $7.75 billion. The agreement covers both the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.
Viewers eager to watch the opening ceremony have nothing to worry about. If you missed the live show at 7 a.m EST on Aug. 24, fret not. NBC will air a rerun at 7 p.m. EST the same day. The rebroadcast will be followed by live sports events like wheelchair basketball, wheelchair rugby, track cycling, and swimming. The live stream on NBCSN begins at 10 p.m. EST on Tuesday, Aug. 24 and finishes at 3 a.m. EST on Wednesday, Aug. 25.
Here's how you can watch the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.
The Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games are exclusively broadcast by NBC, with coverage also available on NBCOlympics.com, the NBC Sports app, and Peacock. The Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA offers extensive content as well. Peacock covers medal round actions in various sports. NBC and NBCOlympics.com will make available more than 1000 hours of footage from the Paralympic Games.
According to Paralympic.org, it's possible that not every sports event will be broadcast live. Per the outlet, the latest news on wheelchair fencing, taekwondo, and powerlifting will only be available via daily highlight reels.
Wheelchair basketball, wheelchair rugby (also known as ... murderball), and athletics are frequently described as the most popular sports at the Paralympic Games. Those rooting for Brian Bell, Adam Scaturro, and more have nothing to worry about as wheelchair basketball and wheelchair rugby will be broadcast live throughout the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.
Wheelchair basketball, wheelchair rugby and the swimming events will all start on Wednesday, Aug. 25 and conclude on Sunday, Sept. 5, Sunday, Aug. 29, and Friday, Sept. 3 respectively, per Olympics.
NBCSN offers live coverage of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games from 9 p.m. EST to 9 a.m. EST on most nights throughout the games. For additional coverage, head over to NBC, the NBC Sports app, Peacock, or The Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA.
