The Olympic Winter Games are set to start on February 6th and end on the 22nd, with some preliminary events starting as early as the 4th of February.
This year, the Olympics will be broadcast in the United States on NBC, which means you’ll need Peacock if you want to stream it.
There are a few ways you can get it for free or really cheap:
Table of Contents
Get an OTA Antenna
An Over-the-air (OTA) antenna is exactly what it sounds like – an antenna that gets the broadcast signal over the air. If you want free local content, getting one of these and being a bit lucky is your best bet since the Olympics will be broadcast by your local NBC affiliate.
Go to Rabbit Ears to see where the station transmitters are and hopefully you have an NBC Network nearby. Our closest one is up in Baltimore, almost 20 miles away, which offers Good signal strength.
OTA Antennas can be cheap or they can be pricier, it all depends on what you need, whether it needs to be powered, etc. I would order a few, see if they work and returns the one that don’t!
When I asked ChatGPT what the best ones were for me after submitting my Rabbit Ears report, it suggested:
Watch International Streams
There will be free coverage of the Olympics through the UK’s BBC iPlayer, Canada’s CBC Gem, and Australia’s 9Now… which his great if you live in those countries.
You will have to get a VPN and go through another country’s servers if you want to get access. So for the BBC iPlayer, you’ll have to be in the UK.
Proton VPN is a free VPN that works great but the free version doesn’t let you pick the country. With the free service, it will randomly put you in one of 10 countries (only Canada of which will qualify you for free Olympic coverage through the above named players)
You’ll have to change servers until you get the right one. And you have to wait between changing servers (and it’s many minutes).
You can pay for Proton VPN ($9.99/mo) or Nord VPN ($3.39/mo) to pick your country.
Amex Platinum Digital Entertainment Credit
If you have an American Express Platinum Card, it comes with a $300 digital entertainment credit. That’s $25 in statement credits when you use the card to pay for Disney+, a Disney+ bundle, ESPN+, Hulu, The New York Times, Paramount+, Peacock, The Wall Street Journal, YouTube Premium, and YouTube TV.
If you have the card, you probably already know this benefit and Peacock is included.
Peacock Student & Young Adult Discount
If you are a student and have a .EDU email address, you can get Peacock for $5.99 a month for 12 months, instead of the typical $10.99. Verification is done through SheerID.
If you are 18-24 and not a student, you can get the same discount as long as you can verify your age.
Peacock Premium Included with These Services
If you have Xfinity, Spectrum, or Instacart Plus, you may get a free subscription as a perk.
Xfinity Customers
If you are an Xfinity customer, check to see if your plan gives you Peacock Premium for free. There are several internet service packages that include Peacock Premium as a free perk. You will have to go to xfinity.com/activate-peacock to activate it.
If you sign up for Comcast’s Now TV streaming service, Peacock Premium will be included.
If you are a Diamond or Platinum Xfinity Rewards member, you can redeem a reward for a free Peacock Premium subscription.
Spectrum TV Customers
If you are a Spectrum TV Select customer, you can get the ad-based Peacock Premium included in your package. This is the same package that includes free ad-supported Disney Plus, AMC Plus, Max, Paramount Plus, ESPN PLus, and ViX. Activate it here.
Instacart+ Customers
If you are an Instacart+ customer, Peacock is included as a benefit.
Here’s where it gets fun – there are several ways you can get Instacart+ for free either on a trial or through a partnership they have with a credit card.
Many Chase co-branded cards offer 3 free month of Instacart+, such as all the travel loyalty programs. Many of the non-co-branded cards do too, such as the Chase Freedom and Chase Freedom Flex. The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card gets you 6 months of Instacart+ while the Reserve gets you a whole year. You also get monthly statement credits too.
Many other cards offer a trial too, so check your cards to see what is available.
If you’re a Costco member, you can get a 2 month free trial membership.
If you don’t have any other way to get a longer trial, Instacart+ themselves offer a 14-day trial.
Discussion about this post