The 2024 Olympic basketball matches have officially begun, so if you've been hoping to catch the much-anticipated part of the 2024 Summer Olympics, it's time to find them.
US: Peacock | NBC
UK: iPlayer | BBC (free with license fee) | Discovery Plus
AU: Stan Sports | 9Now (free)
Watch abroad with a VPN
Sports fans in Australia or the UK will be able to watch the Olympic basketball matches for free on 9Now or iPlayer, which is certainly a real treat. But never fear if you're away from home during the tournament, because you can watch the Olympic games from anywhere with a VPN.
Following a successful trial in its last iteration, the 2024 Summer Olympics will bring two separate types of basketball being competed: basketball and 3x3 basketball will both be contested, and this guide will cover both of them.
Starting off this action on that day is basketball, the original Olympics version of the sport with teams of five playing. There are eight men's teams and twelve women's ones, and matches will continue for two weeks until finals on Saturday, July 10 and Sunday, July 11.
Running concurrently is 3x3 basketball, which strips down the action into intimate teams of three per team for close-quarters action. This begins on Tuesday, July 30, and both the men's and women's strands have eight teams, with the finals due to play on Monday, August 5.
There are therefore 12 medals up for grabs between men's and women's basketball and 3X3 basketball, so ball fans will have lots to watch over the 2024 Olympics. You can find more information on the championships below.
So here's how to watch the 2024 Summer Olympic basketball and 3X3 basketball tournaments.
How to watch the 2024 Olympic basketball in the US
If you live in the US, the Olympics will be airing on the NBC channel, but coverage that way is expected to be spotty as NBC has other programming to show. The best way to watch the games, including basketball and 3X3 basketball, is via Peacock.
Peacock is NBCUniversal's online streaming service and it's promising to be a one-stop shop for all of the Olympic coverage coming from NBC. It's announced several features like Discovery Multiview so you can watch four sports at once, which will likely be useful during the peak of the action.
You can sign up for Peacock at just $5.99 per month, though that's for its ad-enabled tier so your sports, movies and TV shows will show commercials. $11.99 per month gets you ad-free streaming and both options have annual plans that save you money.
How to watch the 2024 Olympic basketball in the UK
The official broadcaster for the 2024 Summer Olympics in the UK is the BBC, with means it'll be free to watch them for people who pay their license fee.
On TV, coverage of the Olympics will be split between BBC One and BBC Two, with the Beeb saying that over 250 hours of Olympic coverage will be shown between the two.
Presumably that'll include lots of basketball and 3X3 basketball, but in past years the BBC has cut between various sports that are taking place simultaneously, so if you want to catch all of the games you might find live TV doesn't cut it.
Another option is by using iPlayer. While this lets you watch the BBC's channels online, we're also talking about BBC Sports, as the broadcaster is using its streaming service to show Olympics Extra.
Olympics Extra is a live stream online for lots of extra events that the TV channels aren't showing. So it could help you catch the basketball and 3X3 basketball over the internet.
There is another option that'll let you see the sports. Discovery Plus is set to show a lot more of the Olympic games, and while it usually costs £6.99 per month for its Standard plan, a temporary deal lets you sign up for £3.99 monthly until the end of the year.
How to watch the 2024 Olympic basketball in Australia
In order to watch the 2024 Olympic basketball and 3X3 basketball in Australia, you'll need to use 9Now, which is free to access.
This is because Nine Network is the official broadcaster of all the Paris Olympic games, and while it could show the basketball tournaments on its TV channels, it'll definitely show them on its streaming service.
How to watch 2024 Olympic basketball everywhere else
If you're going to be away from your normal TV setup but still want to watch the 2024 Olympic basketball and 3X3 basketball, you might run into some problems. Thankfully, you can solve this exact issue with a Virtual Private Network (VPN).
A VPN lets you change your IP address to that of the area of what you want to watch, meaning you can tune in to your favorite Olympic sport, movie, TV show or other content even if you're not there. Our favorite is NordVPN, which is the No. 1-rated VPN in the world right now according to our sister site, TechRadar.
How to use a VPN to watch any stream
- Download the app at NordVPN
- Choose the location of the streaming service you want to watch (UK, US, etc)
- Navigate to the streaming service and start watching!
Olympic 2024 Olympic basketball schedule
We'll share below the schedule of both the basketball and 3X3 basketball championships below, so you know what's going on. This won't include all the individual matches, but the rounds themselves.
Saturday, July 27
- Basketball: Men's Group Phase
Sunday, July 28
- Basketball: Men's Group Phase
- Basketball: Women's Group Phase
Monday, July 29
- Basketball: Women's Group Phase
Tuesday, July 30
- Basketball: Men's Group Phase
- 3X3 basketball: Women's Pool Round
- 3X3 basketball: Men's Pool Round
Wednesday, July 31
- Basketball: Men's Group Phase
- Basketball: Women's Group Phase
- 3X3 basketball: Women's Pool Round
- 3X3 basketball: Men's Pool Round
Thursday, August 1
- Basketball: Women's Group Phase
- 3X3 basketball: Women's Pool Round
- 3X3 basketball: Men's Pool Round
Friday, August 2
- Basketball: Men's Group Phase
- 3X3 basketball: Women's Pool Round
- 3X3 basketball: Men's Pool Round
Saturday, August 3
- Basketball: Men's Group Phase
- Basketball: Women's Group Phase
- 3X3 basketball: Women's Pool Round
- 3X3 basketball: Women's Play-in games
Sunday, August 4
- Basketball: Women's Group Phase
- 3X3 basketball: Men's Pool Round
- 3X3 basketball: Men's Play-in games
Monday, August 5
- 3X3 basketball: Women's semifinals
- 3X3 basketball: Women's finals
- 3X3 basketball: Women's bronze medal games
- 3X3 basketball: Men's semifinals
- 3X3 basketball: Men's finals
- 3X3 basketball: Men's bronze medal games
Tuesday, August 6
- Basketball: Men's Quarterfinals
Wednesday, August 7
- Basketball: Women's Quarterfinals
Thursday, August 8
- Basketball: Men's Semifinals
Friday, August 9
- Basketball: Women's Semifinals
Saturday, August 10
- Basketball: Men's Bronze Medal Game
- Basketball: Men's Final
Sunday, August 11
- Basketball: Women's Bronze Medal Game
- Basketball: Women's Final
All you need to know about the Olympic Basketball and 3X3 Basketball
When does the Olympic basketball begin?
The Olympic Basketball tournament begins on Saturday, July 27. The men's tournament ends on Saturday, August 10, and women's ends one day later on Sunday, August 11.
The Olympic 3X3 Basketball tournament starts on Tuesday, July 30, and continues until Monday, August 5, when both the men's and women's tournaments end.
Which teams are playing in the Olympic basketball and 3X3 basketball?
In total 18 countries will have teams between the four basketball tournaments. Both France and United States are the only two countries who have teams in all four. In three of the tournaments, there are eight teams, but women's basketball has twelve.
In the men's basketball tournament there are: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Serbia, South Sudan and United States.
In the women's basketball tournament there are: Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, Nigeria, Puerto Rico, Serbia, Spain and United States.
In the men's 3X3 basketball tournament there are: China, France, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Serbia and United States.
In the women's 3X3 basketball tournament there are: Australia, Azerbaijan, Canada, China, France, Germany, Spain and united States.
Where does the Olympic basketball tournament take place
In the 3X3 basketball competition, all matches will take place at the Place de la Concorde, a public square in Paris which is being taken over for the Olympics.
The 5x5 basketball will take place over two locations. The early matches are hosted at the Pierre Mauroy Stadium, which is the host of the Lille OSC soccer team, and is situated in the north of France.
The final matches will move to Paris, to its Bercy Arena or Accor Arena, which is situated along the Seine near the Gare de Lyon.
How to watch other Olympic sports
If you want specific information on other Olympic sports, here are guides we have to the other activities which will be shown as part of the Paris Olympic games:
