How to watch Volleyball at Olympics 2020: key dates, schedule, live stream and more

Volleyball officially became an Olympic sport in the Tokyo 1964 Games, so it seems fitting to tune in and watch events unfold in the same city almost 60 years later. Read on as we explain how to watch an Olympics volleyball live stream.

With Brazil leading the way in men’s volleyball—remaining undefeated in 2019’s World Cup of the sport—and the Republic of China reigning in the women’s division, both nations are expected to tirelessly defend their gold in the 2020 Games.

Poland’s Wilfredo Leon is a player to watch, though, after earning the title of best outside spiker in the 2019 World Cup Dream Team. Italy also boasts a few up-and-comers to look out for—athlete Paola Egonu gained attention in 2018 after scoring an impressive 324 points in the women’s world championship.

Overall, it’s Russia and the USSR who hold the most Olympic golds in volleyball, with a total of eight medals won by male and female teams. Will anyone knock them from the top spot in Tokyo? Tune in to watch volleyball at the Olympics 2020 to find out. Alternatively, here's how to live stream Olympics action all summer long.

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Olympics 2020 volleyball: key dates and times

• Men's gold medal match: Saturday, August 7 from 9.15pm JST / 1.15pm BST / 8.15am ET
• Women's gold medal match: Sunday, August 8 from 1.30pm JST / 5.30am BST / 12.30am ET

Free Olympics volleyball live stream 2021

A great number of broadcasters worldwide are televising the Tokyo Olympics, and fortunately, some of them are free-to-air. The official Olympics website is also offering free live streaming of many of the sporting events, especially the major ones. 

But if you want wider coverage of the Games, it’s a good idea to choose a domestic broadcaster. TVNZ in New Zealand, RTE in Ireland, BBC and the iPlayer streaming service in the UK, and Channel 7 in Australia are all providing free live coverage. Continue reading to learn how you can live stream the Tokyo Olympics from where you are. 

How to watch your Olympics live stream when abroad

Sports fans wanting to watch an Olympics live stream in 2021 should be able to access their usual free or paid coverage from all over the world. While geo-blocking typically restricts coverage when overseas to local providers - and some places of work, study or even leisure may stop you from streaming because of bandwidth restrictions - there's a really easy way to solve these issues.

The answer is as simple as downloading and installing the best VPN service, which will then allow you to tell your computer, phone, tablet or other device that it's in a different country. This means you can tune in to your usual coverage from home, wherever you are, without having to resort to an illegal stream.

Use a VPN to watch Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games from anywhere

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Using a VPN is really simple - as easy as one-two-three, in fact!

1. Download and install a VPN - as we say, our top overall choice is ExpressVPN, which represents the best solution for most sports fans this Olympics

2. Connect to the appropriate server location - open the VPN app, hit 'choose location' and select the country where your home broadcaster is based

3. Go to the broadcaster's live stream - so if you're from the UK, just head to BBC iPlayer and log-in as usual

That's all there is to it! You'll now be able to watch all the Olympics action just like you would from the comfort of your own sofa.

FREE Olympics volleyball live stream in the UK

The BBC is famed for its excellent coverage of the Olympics and UK residents get to catch it all for free! BBC One and BBC Two will broadcast over 350 hours of live footage from Tokyo. If you don’t have access to a TV, you can still use the BBC iPlayer to stream the events live.

In case you want more complete coverage of the sports events, you also have Discovery+ and Eurosport. Discovery+ streaming subscriptions begin at £6.99/month, and Eurosport’s streaming service starts at £4.99/month, with a three-day free trial. Both the services run on Apple and Windows computers, on Samsung TV with Tizen 3.0 and later, Chromecast, and more. 

Not in the UK during the 2020 Olympic games? Don’t fret—with a VPN, you can catch all the events. 

How to watch Olympics volleyball in the US without cable and on TV

On cable TV in the US, NBC has the broadcasting rights for the Tokyo Olympics. If you have the network on your cable, then you can watch it online via the NBC streaming platform, too.

For those who don’t use cable, there are other streaming services available that have the NBC channel, like Peacock TV, Sling TV, YouTube TV, and others. 

Peacock TV is available for a meagre price of $4.99 a month (or $49.99 for an annual plan) and comes with a FREE 7-day trial - though note that much of its programming schedule is given over to multi-sports coverage. This is great for general fans, but maybe a bit frustrating if you want end-to-end action of a specific discipline.

Alternatively, Sling TV costs $35/month for the package you need for more comprehensive NBC access. Right now, it’s available for just $10 for the first month as part of a limited time deal.

Both these streaming services are available on the Google Chrome Browser, Amazon Fire TV, gaming consoles like PS4 and Xbox One, and on Android and iOS.  

How to watch Olympics volleyball in Canada

Several broadcasters in Canada are covering the Tokyo Olympics. If you've got a cable subscription, you can catch the events on CBC, TSN, Sportsnet, and TLN. If you don’t have a cable subscription, you can subscribe to CBC, TSN, or Sportsnet’s online streaming services. 

If you don't currently pay for a package, CBC’s OTT offering is your best bet as it's free of cost, TSN and Sportsnet cost CAD 19.99/month on a monthly plan. TLN is the only broadcaster that doesn’t offer a standalone streaming service.

Want to watch your coverage from abroad? Then don't forget that using a VPN is a great way to watch coverage overseas.

How to live stream volleyball at the Olympics for FREE in Australia

In Australia, Channel 7 has exclusive airing rights for the Tokyo Olympics. The live coverage will be broadcast for free on 7Two and 7Mate, and is arguably the most comprehensive free option worldwide.

To view the games online for free, you can use Channel 7’s streaming service, 7plus - available on web browsers, iOS, Android, LG TV, Chromecast, and more. 

Not in Australia? Use a VPN if you're away from home, in order to tap into your local Olympics coverage.

More 2020 Olympics broadcasters around the world

If you're not in one of these countries, don't worry - the Olympics are being shown in most places around the world, though you might not luck out with free streaming and coverage levels vary considerably by location.

You can check what's on offer where you are with the help of the dedicated Wikipedia page of all of the world's Olympic Games channels.

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