Where to watch the Olympics and other multi-sports events in Australia

Multi-sports is a rather bland umbrella term used to describe some of the biggest sporting events in the world. The term covers big-ticket events like the Olympic Games (both Summer and Winter), the Commonwealth Games and the Invictus Games. For all of your multi-sports viewing needs, you’re tuned into the right channel, and you don’t have to spend a cent to access some of the best sports streaming services for the Olympics.

For a while now, 7plus has been the home of the Summer and Winter Olympics. But that’s set to change. While you can still watch event replays for recent Olympics on 7plus, the new streaming home for Olympic events is 9Now. Tune in to 9Now for the 2024 Paris Olympics, 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and 2032 Brisbane Olympics, plus the 2026 Milan and Cortana Olympics as well as the 2030 Winter Olympics (venue TBA).

While the Russia-based Special Olympics World Winter Games were postponed and eventually cancelled, the Special Olympics World Sumer Games are still set to take place between 16 and 25 June 2023 in Germany. At the time of writing, it was unclear where the Berlin Games would be available for streaming in Australia.

Internationally, the Special Olympics World Sumer Games are set to stream on ESPN3. Use a virtual private network (VPN) service connected to a US server to access ESPN3 via a live TV service, including Hulu. Here’s a list of VPNs that worked well with streaming Hulu from Australia in my tests:

• Windscribe VPN
• ExpressVPN
• PureVPN
• NordVPN
• Proton VPN
• PrivadoVPN
• Private Internet Access VPN
• VPN Unlimited
• Surfshark VPN
• TunnelBear VPN

Germany is getting a double dose of multi-sports events in 2023. The (postponed) Invictus Games are set to be held between 9 and 16 September 2023 in Dusseldorf, Germany. SBS On Demand is typically the streaming home of the Invictus Games, so tune in there to watch all the action.

In October 2021, the Seven Network acquired the rights to stream the Commonwealth Games in Australia. While a broadcaster has yet to be officially announced for the 2026 Commonwealth Games (set to take place in March 2026 in Victoria, Australia), expect to watch them either on 7plus or 9Now if Channel 9’s recent Olympics broadcast deal is anything to go by.

At the time of writing, the only officially confirmed broadcast partner for the 2026 Commonwealth Games was Sky Television in New Zealand. Check out the list of VPNs below that offer servers in New Zealand:

• CyberGhost VPN
• ExpressVPN
• Hola VPN
• Hotspot Shield VPN
• IPVanish VPN
• Mullvad VPN
• NordVPN
• PrivadoVPN
• Private Internet Access
• Proton VPN
• PureVPN
• Surfshark
• TunnelBear
• VPN Unlimited
• Windscribe

Interested to see how the streaming services above stack up against the competition? Take a look at the table below for a comparison of your streaming options in Australia.