Getty American Nathan Chen
The 2021 ISU World Figure Skating Championships will kick off Wednesday at Ericsson Globe in Stockholm, Sweden, with no spectators.
In the United States, television coverage of the World Championships will be on NBC Sports Network and NBC. But if you don’t have cable, you can watch coverage on Peacock Premium, or if you’re looking for some different options, here are some other ways you can watch a live stream of the 2021 World Figure Skating Championships online:
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FuboTV
You can watch a live stream of NBC Sports Network, NBC and 100-plus other TV channels on FuboTV, which comes with a free seven-day trial:
Once signed up for FuboTV, you can watch the 2021 World Figure Skating Championships live on the FuboTV app, which is available on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV, or Firestick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV, Android TV, iPhone, Android phone, iPad, or Android tablet. Or you can watch on your computer via the FuboTV website.
If you can’t watch live, FuboTV also comes with 250 hours of cloud DVR space, as well as a 72-hour look-back feature, which allows you to re-watch events within three days of their conclusion, even if you don’t record them.
AT&T TV
AT&T TV has four different channel packages: “Entertainment”, “Choice”, “Ultimate” and “Premier.” NBC and NBC Sports Network are included in every bundle, but you can pick any package and any add-on you want with your free 14-day trial.
Note that the free trial isn’t advertised as such, but your “due today” amount will be $0 when signing up. If you watch on your computer, phone or tablet, you won’t be charged for 14 days. If you watch on a streaming device on your TV (Roku, Firestick, Apple TV, etc.), you will be charged for the first month, but you can get still get a full refund if you cancel before 14 days:
Once signed up for AT&T TV, you can watch the 2021 World Figure Skating Championships live on the AT&T TV app, which is available on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Firestick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Samsung Smart TV, iPhone, Android phone, iPad, or Android tablet. Or you can watch on your computer via the AT&T TV website.
You can also watch the game live via ESPN.com or the ESPN app. You’ll need to sign in to a TV provider to watch this way, but you can use your AT&T TV credentials to do that.
If you can’t watch live, AT&T TV also comes with 20 hours of Cloud DVR storage (with the ability to upgrade to 500 hours).
Sling TV
NBC and NBC Sports Network are included in Sling TV’s “Sling Blue” bundle. This option doesn’t include a free trial, but it’s the cheapest long-term streaming service with the NBC channels, plus you can get $10 off your first month, and get Showtime, Starz, and Epix included for free:
Once signed up for Sling TV, you can watch the 2021 World Figure Skating Championships live on the Sling TV app, which is available on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV, or Firestick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV, LG Smart TV, Android TV, airTV Mini, Oculus, Portal, iPhone, Android phone, iPad, or Android tablet. Or you can watch on your computer via the Sling TV website.
If you can’t watch live, Sling TV comes included with 50 hours of cloud DVR.
Hulu With Live TV
You can watch a live stream of NBC, NBC Sports Network and 65+ other TV channels via Hulu With Live TV, which you can try out for free with a seven-day trial:
Once signed up for Hulu With Live TV, you can watch the 2021 World Figure Skating Championships live on the Hulu app, which is available on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV, or Firestick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Samsung Smart TV, LG Smart TV, Android TV, iPhone, Android phone, iPad, or Android tablet. Or you can watch on your computer via the Hulu website.
If you can’t watch live, Hulu with Live TV also comes with 50 hours of Cloud DVR storage (with the ability to upgrade to “Enhanced Cloud DVR,” which gives you 200 hours of DVR space and the ability to fast forward through commercials).
World Figure Skating Championships 2021 Preview
American Nathan Chen will be looking to defeat one of his idols in Yuzuru Hanyu, who won gold medals in both 2014 and 2018, in a loaded men’s event.
“It’s always just a big honor for me to compete against an idol that I watched while I was growing up,” Chen said of Hanyu. “He’s really like the benchmark or the standard of what skating looks like.” Chen and Hanyu will be competing against the likes of Uno Shoma, Vincent Zhou, Jason Brown, Mikhail Kolyada and 17-year-old Japanese skater Kagiyama Yuma, who will make his worlds debut in this event. With his eyes on the future but his skates planted on the ice, Chen is looking to make a statement by winning the third world championship of his career.
“I still need to prove that I deserve a spot [on the U.S. National Team],” Chen added. “I can’t just assume that I have that spot. I still have to work for it.”
In the women’s main event, 2015 world champion Elizaveta Tuktamysheva will be competing against Kihira Rika, Sakamoto Kaori and Miyahara Satoko of Japan, along with Bradie Tennell and Karen Chen of the United States.
In pairs, Olympic silver medallists Sui Wenjing and Han Cong are looking to win their third championship after taking home the hardware in 2017 and 2019. They’ll see stiff competition against Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov and Aleksandra Boikova and Dmitrii Kozlovskii Russia.
As for dance, favorites Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron are not competing, so there will be a wide open field full of potential new victors, including Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov, Americans Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue and Madison Chock and Evan Bates and Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier of Canada.
The World Championships are important, because they help determine where each respective skater will place in the 2022 Winter Olympic Games. In terms of possible skaters competing at the Olympics, the number of skaters that can be selected the Games in the following categories are as follows:
- Men: 24 skaters
- Women: 24 skaters
- Pairs: 16 teams
- Ice Dance: 19 teams
Here’s a look at the schedule for the entire event:
Wednesday, March 24:
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10am Ladies’ short program
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6:30pm Pairs short program
Thursday, March 25:
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11am Men’s short program
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6:30pm Pairs free skate
Friday, March 26:
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10:45am Ice dance rhythm dance
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6pm Ladies’ free skate
Saturday, March 27:
- 11am Men’s free skate
- 5pm Ice dance free dance
Sunday, March 28:
- 2:30pm Exhibition gala