Of all sporting events that planet Earth has to offer, none of them can match the popularity, passion, and interest that the Olympics gather every four years, two if we count the Winter competitions.
Athletes from more than 200 nations compete with all that they have for the right to be called Olympic champions. If they can’t, usually a place in the podium (which would mean silver or a bronze medal) is a nice consolation prize.
The origins of the Olympic Games go way back to the 19th century, specifically in 1896, in Athens, Greece. After that, 27 competitions have since then followed suit. All with its own entire collection of memories, triumphs, success, and failure.
The games evolved from 250 male competitors in 42 events in 1896 to more than 11,000 (spread nearly evenly between men and women) athletes in 306 events in Rio 2016. Naturally, the event garners lots of TV interest, and people want to enjoy it with or without cable.
Olympic sports
Sport Years
Archery 1900–1908, 1920, since 1972
Athletics All
Badminton Since 1992
Baseball 1992–2008, 2020
Basketball Since 1936
Basque pelota 1900
Boxing 1904, 1908, since 1920
Canoeing and kayaking Since 1936
Cricket 1900
Sports climbing 2020
Croquet 1900
Cycling All
Diving Since 1904
Equestrian 1900, since 1912
Fencing All
Field hockey 1908, 1920, since 1928
Football 1900–1928, since 1936
Golf 1900, 1904, since 2016
Gymnastics All
Handball 1936, since 1972
Jeu de paume 1908
Judo 1964, since 1972
Karate 2020
Lacrosse 1904, 1908
Modern pentathlon Since 1912
Polo 1900, 1908, 1920, 1924, 1936
Rackets 1908
Rhythmic gymnastics Since 1984
Roque 1904
Rowing Since 1900
Rugby union 1900, 1908, 1920, 1924
Rugby sevens Since 2016
Sailing 1900, since 1908
Shooting 1896, 1900, 1908–1924, since 1932
Skateboarding 2020
Softball 1996–2008, 2020
Surfing 2020
Swimming All
Synchronised Swimming Since 1984
Table tennis Since 1988
Taekwondo Since 2000
Tennis 1896–1924, since 1988
Trampoline Since 2000
Triathlon Since 2000
Tug of war 1900–1920
Volleyball Since 1964
Water motorsports 1908
Water Polo Since 1900
Weightlifting 1896, 1904, since 1920
Wrestling 1896, since 1904
The 2020 Summer Olympics
The 2020 Summer OlympicsAfter competing with Madrid (Spain) and Istanbul (Turkey,), the city of Tokyo was elected as the host venue for the 2020 Olympic Games. It will be the second time Tokyo hosts the premier sports event on the planet.
The events’ motto is “Discover Tomorrow”, and the International Olympic Committee expects an approximate of 11,091 athletes from 206 nations. The opening ceremony will be held on July 24th, 2020, and the closing will be on August 9.
There will be 339 events to be held, in 33 sports (50 disciplines.) The New National Stadium is under construction to serve as the place in which all athletes will compete against the top performers in the globe.
Broadcasting for the 2020 Games
It is possible to watch the Olympic Games, with or without cable television. Several networks and channels have already secured broadcasting rights for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. They will bring the action closer to their local audiences in two years time.
Territory Rights holder
Armenia APMTV
Asia Dentsu
Australia Seven Network
Austria ORF
Belarus Belteleradio
Belgium VRT
Bosnia and Herzegovina BHRT
Brazil Grupo Globo
Bulgaria BNT
Canada CBC/Radio-Canada, Sportsnet, TSN, TLN
Caribbean International Media Content Ltd, SportsMax
China CCTV
Croatia HRT
Czech Republic ČT
Denmark DR
Estonia Eesti Media
Europe Discovery Communications, Eurosport
Finland Yle
France France Télévisions, Canal+
Georgia GPB
Germany ARD, ZDF
Greece ERT
Hungary MTVA
Iceland RÚV
Ireland RTÉ
Indonesia RCTI
Japan Japan Consortium
Kosovo RTK
Latin America América Móvil
Latvia LTV
Lithuania TV3
Luxembourg RTL
Macedonia MRT
MENA beIN Sports
Montenegro RTCG
Netherlands NOS
New Zealand Sky Television
North Korea SBS
Norway TVNorge
Oceania Sky Television
Poland TVP
Portugal RTP
Romania TVR
Slovakia RTV
Slovenia RTV
South Africa SABC, SuperSport
South Korea SBS
Sub-Saharan Africa Econet Media, SuperSport
Sweden Kanal 5
Switzerland SRG SSR
Ukraine UA: PBC
United Kingdom BBC, Eurosport
United States NBCUniversal
Geo-blocking Restrictions
Geo-blocking RestrictionsMost of those networks and channels are meant to broadcast the games only to local audiences. Because of geo-restriction laws and licensing agreements with the International Olympic Committee, they aren’t supposed to show any material to international viewers.
If a person located in Uruguay tries to open NBC Universal streaming site, the system will show a message saying that the content is not available in that area. A similar scenario happens with other channels listed here: they can’t be accessed from international regions.
VPN Technology: A Prime Solution
However, and thanks to VPN technology, that situation has a remedy. VPN stands for Virtual Private Networks, which are encryption tools that can hide the user’s IP address and shared content online.
The intention of masking a person’s real IP address is to hide its location. And since people can’t go over the Internet without an IP number, the VPN app will lend him, or her, a temporary one from the country of its selection. If you, as a VPN subscriber, choose to connect to an American server, you will earn a US-based IP, therefore unblocking NBC Universal and all the streaming sites and web pages of the United States.
Of course, you can obtain a satellite TV package to watch the 2020 Summer Olympics without cable, but you can also take advantage of online streaming and VPNs to unblock any site you want from anywhere.
Of all VPN service providers in the market, IPBurger VPN is among the fast-rising ones. People look for it because it has a clear and concise no logging privacy policy, it is fast, has servers in several countries, and has lots of shared and dedicated IP addresses to give away.
In conclusion, the Olympic Games are sports’ premier competition, gathering more than 10,000 athletes from 206 nations around the world. The fire, the passion, and the gold are representative elements of this 122-year old competition.
The 2020 edition, which would be the next one, will be held in Tokyo. Numerous networks and channels have secured broadcasting rights, and it is possible for people to enjoy the Olympic Games without cable with the help of a VPN app.
