Some of the Olympic field hockey matches have already begun, and the next few days of the 2024 Olympic games promises a packed calendar of the sport as 24 teams go for gold.
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 hockey 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.
Over two events — men's and women's field hockey — a grand total of 24 teams from 15 nations will hit the field over two weeks in order to claim victory, and some needed gold medals, for their nation.
A busy schedule will see eight matches per day take place during the early stages of the Olympic hockey events, and if you're a fan of the sport, you're going to want to know how to stream them or watch them on TV.
So this guide will help you work out how to watch the Olympic field hockey matches, with a schedule below as well as some important answers to questions you may have.
How to watch the Olympic hockey in the US
The best way for US-based hockey fans to watch the Olympic field hockey matches is by using NBC's streaming service Peacock, which is generally going to be the best way to watch all the Paris games.
NBC has announced that Peacock will host live streams of every single Olympic event, which will of course include hockey. You'll also be able to use the streamer to watch multiple concurrent events at once (up to four) if you really don't want to miss a thing.
Peacock costs $5.99 per month for its ad-supported tier and $11.99 for its ad-free one, with annual plans coming in at $59.99 and $119.99 respectively.
Various NBC-owned channels will also be broadcasting Olympic coverage, but it's likely that they'll just show clips or short segments of the hockey, and possibly only of the US matches. So Peacock will be the best way to follow other teams.
How to watch the Olympic hockey in the UK
UK-based hockey fans might struggle to watch all of the field games as the national broadcaster for the Olympic games, the BBC, isn't offering a way to stream specific events or sports.
The BBC is offering two broadcasts of Olympic sports: one will jump between BBC One and BBC Two on live TV, and the other will live on iPlayer, and both will show different sports.
You won't be able to choose which sports you watch via either of these streams, however it will be free to view them if you pay your license fee.
Thankfully, 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 Olympic hockey in Australia
Field hockey fans in Australia will be able to watch the Olympic hockey games by using the online streaming service 9Now, which is totally free to use.
9Now is set to host separate live streams for all the different Olympic events, so you'll be able to use the app or website to find whatever hockey match is playing at the time.
The owners of 9Now, Channel Nine, may also show some Olympic coverage on its live TV channels. However we can't be sure how much of that broadcast will include field hockey specifically, so 9Now will be your best way to watch the sport.
How to watch the Olympic hockey everywhere else
If you're going to be away from your normal TV setup but still want to watch the Olympic hockey, 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 sports, TV shows 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 hockey schedule
Here are which days each of the Olympic field hockey games take place on. Times will be in local time; that'll be 6 hours ahead of ET, 9 hours ahead of PT and one hour ahead of the UK and 8 hours behind AEST.
Saturday, July 27
- 10 am: Men's Pool A — Great Britain vs Spain
- 10:30 am: Men's Pool B — Belgum vs Ireland
- 12:45 pm: Men's Pool A — Netherlands vs South Africa
- 1:15 pm: Men's Pool B — Australia vs Argentina
- 5 pm: Men's Pool A — Germany vs France
- 5:30 pm: Men's Pool B — India vs New Zealand
- 7:45 pm: Women's Pool B — Argentina vs United States
- 8:15 pm: Women's Pool A — Netherlands vs France
Sunday, July 28
- 10 am: Women's Pool A — Belgium vs China
- 10:30 am: Women's Pool A — Germany vs Japan
- 12:45 pm: Women's Pool B — Australia vs South Africa
- 1:15 pm: Women's Pool B — Great Britain vs Spain
- 5 pm: Men's Pool A — Germany vs Spain
- 5:30 pm: Men's Pool B — Belgium vs New Zealand
- 7:45 pm: Men's Pool A — Netherlands vs France
- 8:15 pm: Men's Pool A — South Africa vs Great Britain
Monday, July 29
- 10 am: Men's Pool B — Ireland vs Australia
- 10:30 am: Women's Pool A — Japan vs China
- 12:45 pm: Men's Pool B — India vs Argentina
- 1:15 pm: Women's Pool B — Spain vs United States
- 5 pm: Women's Pool B — Great Britain vs Australia
- 5:30 pm: Women's Pool B — South Africa vs Argentina
- 7:45 pm: Women's Pool A — Germany vs Netherlands
- 8:15 pm: Women's Pool A — France vs Belgium
Tuesday, July 30
- 10 am: Men's Pool A — Spain vs France
- 10:30 am: Men's Pool A — South Africa vs Germany
- 12:45 pm: Men's Pool A — Great Britain vs Netherlands
- 1:15 pm: Men's Pool B — Ireland vs India
- 5 pm: Men's Pool B — Argentina vs New Zealand
- 7:45 Men's Pool B — Australia vs Belgium
Wednesday, July 31
- 10 am: Women's Pool B — Argentina vs Spain
- 10:30 am: Women's Pool B — South Africa vs Great Britain
- 12:45 am: Women's Pool A — France vs Germany
- 1:15 pm: Women's Pool B — Australia vs United States
- 5 pm: Women's Pool A — Belgium vs Japan
- 5:30 pm: Men's Pool A — Germany vs Netherlands
- 7:45 pm: Men's Pool A — Spain vs South Africa
- 8:15 pm: Women's Pool A — Netherlands vs China
Thursday, August 1
- 10 am: Men's Pool B — India vs Belgium
- 10:30 am: Men's Pool B — New Zealand vs Australia
- 12:45 pm: Men's Pool A — France vs Great Britain
- 1:15 pm: Men's Pool B — Argentina vs Ireland
- 5 pm: Women's Pool B — United States vs Great Britain
- 5:30 pm: Women's Pool B — Spain vs South Africa
- 7:45 pm: Women's Pool A — Japan vs France
- 8:15 pm: Women's Pool B — Argentina vs Australia
Friday, August 2
- 10 am: Women's Pool A — China vs Germany
- 10:30 am: Men's Pool A — Netherlands vs Spain
- 12:45 pm: Women's Pool A — Belgium vs Netherlands
- 1:15 pm: Men's Pool B — Australia vs India
- 5 pm: Men's Pool B — New Zealand vs Ireland
- 5:30 pm: Men's Pool B — Belgium vs Argentina
- 7:45 pm: Men's Pool A — France vs South Africa
- 8:15 pm: Men's Pool A — Great Britain vs Germany
Saturday, August 3
- 10 am: Women's Pool B — Great Britain vs Argentina
- 10:30 am: Women's Pool A — Netherlands vs Japan
- 12:45 pm: Women's Pool B — Australia vs Spain
- 1:15 pm: Women's Pool B — United States vs South Africa
- 5 pm: Women's Pool A — China vs France
- 7:45 pm: Women's Pool A — Germany vs Belgium
Sunday, August 4
- 10 am: Men's quarter-final 1
- 12:30 pm: Men's quarter-final 2
- 5:30 pm: Men's quarter-final 3
- 8 pm: Men's quarter-final 4
Monday, August 5
- 10 am: Women's quarter-final 1
- 12:30 pm: Women's quarter-final 2
- 5:30 pm: Women's quarter-final 3
- 8 pm: Women's quarter-final 4
Tuesday, August 6
- 2 pm: Men's semi-final 1
- 7 pm: Men's semi-final 2
Wednesday, August 7
- 2 pm: Women's semi-final 1
- 7 pm: Women's semi-final 2
Thursday, August 8
- 2 pm: Men's bronze medal match
- 7 pm: Men's final
Friday, August 9
- 2 pm: Women's bronze medal match
- 7 pm: Women's final
All you need to know about the Olympic hockey competition
When does the Olympic hockey competition begin?
Both the men's and women's hockey events begin on Saturday, July 27 with the Pool stage.
Quarter-finals begin on Sunday, August 4, with semi-finals beginning two days later. The men's final is on Thursday, August 8 while the women's final is a day later on Friday, August 9.
Which teams are playing in the Olympic hockey events?
Both the men's and women's events feature 12 teams competing for gold, and mostly the teams are the same per gender, but there are a few exceptions. Here's who's playing:
Women
- Argentina
- Australia
- Belgium
- China
- France
- Germany
- Great Britain
- Japan
- Netherlands
- South Africa
- Spain
- United States
Men
- Argentina
- Australia
- Belgium
- France
- Germany
- Great Britain
- India
- Ireland
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
- South Africa
- Spain
How many Olympic hockey events are there?
Despite the number of teams and matches as part of the Olympic field hockey tournament, there are actually only two sets of medals up for grabs: one for the best men's teams, and one for the best women's teams.
Where does the Olympic hockey tournament take place
All of the Olympic hockey matches take place at the Stade Yves-du-Manoir in the Parisian suburb of Colombes.
This stadium already has a long Olympic history, after acting as the main base of the 1924 Olympic games a century ago. A century later, it'll host the field hockey alone.
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:
