The 2026 Milan Winter Olympics have started, and the excitement is nothing but contagious. Today is the opening ceremony, taking place in the San Siro Stadium.

The ceremony, themed “Armonia” (Harmony), features a star-studded lineup of international and Italian artists. Balich Wonder Studio is producing the ceremony, which features more than 1,300 cast members. For the first time in Winter Games history, organizers are staging the event across multiple locations.

Here’s how you can watch the Milan-Cortina Games Opening Ceremony in the U.S.

When is the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony?

The official date of the opening ceremony is February 6, 2026. While organizers scheduled the ceremony for today, events like women’s ice hockey, snowboarding, curling, and training runs already kicked off on February 4.

In a historic first, two Olympic cauldrons will be lit simultaneously.

One is the Arco della Pace in Milan, and another is in Piazza Dibona in Cortina d’Ampezzo.

What time does the Opening Ceremony start in the U.S.?

It can be watched during a special primetime play. The live coverage begins at 2:00 PM ET / 11:00 AM PT.

NBC will air the primetime encore, the enhanced version of the ceremony, at 8:00 PM ET, 7:00 PM CT and MT, and 8:00 PM PT.

The event is expected to run for approximately three hours, with a time difference of six to eleven hours between the US and Italy.

Which TV Channel will air the Opening Ceremony in the U.S.?

NBC will be the catalyst for delivering a live coverage feed of the opening ceremony in the US.

Terry Gannon, Mary Carillo, and three-time Olympic gold medalist Shaun White host the broadcast. And then Mike Tirico will be hosting the prime-time coverage.

How can U.S. viewers stream the Milan-Cortina Opening Ceremony?

The Peacock is the official streaming home. It will provide a live stream of the ceremony starting from Italian time, 2:00 pm ET. After that, the network will stream the prime-time encore and the coverage.

For the people in the US, NBC is also the savior.

You can use NBCOlympics.com, NBC.com, the NBC app, or the NBC Sports app. These platforms require a proper network connection and login authentication to stream. And if you have a cable service that can support these streams, there is nothing like it.

If you have a subscription to services like YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, Fubo, Sling TV, or DirecTV Stream, you can watch the ceremony live on the local NBC channel included in their lineups.

If you don’t want to spend money to watch the ceremony, you can try a few free streaming platforms.

New users can utilize free trials from services like DirecTV Stream (5 days), YouTube TV (up to 21 days), or Fubo to watch the ceremony and early events at no cost.

If you are a user and have third-party bundles, it’s your lucky day.

Some users may have “free” access to Peacock through other memberships, such as Instacart+ or Walmart+. They currently offer a Peacock subscription for free.