WATCH LIVE: Opening Ceremony
The Opening Ceremony at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics is underway, but how long will it last?
The iconic kickoff to the global sporting event began at 1 p.m. CT with star-studded performances and a Parade of Nations, where athletes from more than 90 countries walk alongside their flag.
But that parade takes time.
Organizers said they expect the ceremony to last approximately three hours, in line with previous opening ceremonies.
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If you aren’t able to watch the full event, or want to re-watch it later Friday, you’ll have a chance to do so.
Here’s what to know:
Where to you watch the Opening Ceremony on TV
Live
NBC will air the Opening Ceremony live.
Coverage of the ceremony will start at 12:40 p.m. CT, 20 minutes ahead of the ceremony’s official start.
Anyone who misses the live coverage will have a second chance to watch it in primetime on NBC when it re-airs at 7 p.m. CT.
The primetime coverage will have a greater focus on Team USA athletes.
See the full TV schedule below:
Where to stream the Opening Ceremony
The event will be streamed live on Peacock, NBC Chicago’s streaming channel and NBC Olympics platforms.
You can also stream the coverage using the link below:
Live:
WATCH LIVE: Opening Ceremony
Primetime:
PRIMTIME STREAM: Opening Ceremony
Who are the commentators?
NBC Sports commentators Terry Gannon and Mary Carillo will host coverage of the Milan Cortina Olympics Opening Ceremony after TODAY’s Savannah Guthrie had to step aside with her mother missing.
Gannon and Carillo will be joined by American Winter Olympic icon Shaun White, who is on his first Opening Ceremony assignment after contributing to NBC Olympics’ coverage during the 2012 London Olympics and 2016 Rio Olympics.
Mike Tirico will contribute to Opening Ceremony coverage from 6,000 miles away, as he will be preparing to call Super Bowl LX for NBC on Sunday, Feb. 8, from Santa Clara, California, as part of the network’s “Legendary February.”
Where is the Opening Ceremony?
The Olympics Opening Ceremony will be held at Milan’s iconic San Siro Stadium. The stadium was built nearly 100 years ago and is home to two of Italy’s premier soccer clubs, A.C. Milan and Inter Milan.
What is the order of the Parade of Nations?
Greece, the nation where the Olympics originated thousands of years ago and where the first modern Games took place in 1896, marches first. The host country marches last, which means this year that will be Italy.
Future Olympic host countries move to the end of the order to add prominence to their march.
Just before Italy will be France, hosts of the 2030 Winter Olympics in the French Alps.
The United States will go before France, as Salt Lake City will host the 2034 Winter Olympics.
The countries in between are arranged in alphabetical order. But remember, that’s alphabetical order in the language of the host country.
Russians and Belarusians cannot take part in the Opening Ceremony’s parade of athletes as they are competing as neutral athletes, or AIN.
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