Going for gold

How to watch San Antonio's Fred Kerley and all Texas Olympians in Paris

San Antonio's Fred Kerley will be one to watch at the Paris Olympics.

Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

It’s finally time to light the cauldron and let the 2024 Summer Olympic Games begin.

The Games of the XXXIII Olympiad will run July 26-August 11 in Paris, and the Lone Star State has some of its biggest superstar athletes competing for Team USA. In fact, of the nearly 600 American athletes on the team, more than 40 hail from Texas.

They include major headliners like Houston’s Simone Biles, Dallas’ Sha’Carri Richardson, San Antonio’s Fred Kerley, Austin's Gabby Thomas, along with the youngest member of Team USA, 16-year-old Plano gymnast Hezly Rivera, and a competitor in the all-new sport of breaking, Jeffrey "B-boy Jeffro" Louis of Houston.

There are as many ways to watch these hometown hopefuls as there are reasons to cheer them on. Here’s a basic primer on Olympic broadcast and streaming coverage from Paris (which is seven hours ahead of Texas):

All coverage will be on NBC-owned channels, streaming services, and sites, including USA, E!, CNBC, The Golf Channel, and Telemundo.
Every event will be streamed live via Peacock (PeacockTV.com/Olympics), as well as NBCOlympics.com, the NBC app, and the NBC Olympics app. Peacock makes it easy to search by sport, save events to “My Stuff,” and set reminders.
NBC will carry at least nine hours of live event coverage starting each morning and continuing into the afternoon. Primetime in Paris will show competitions in the evening, and late-night coverage will continue after local news.
Full event replays will be available on the NBCOlympics.com Replays hub.
A guide at NBCOlympics.com schedule page can be filtered by sport, event, top athletes and topics like Must See, Team USA, Top Stars and Medal Events. There's also a toggle to show schedule info for "TV & Digital" or "TV Only."
Find more information about special shows, hosts, and more here.

Below is a list of every Team USA athlete who calls Texas home, by birth or current residence — and at least one way to watch their qualifying events live. (Note that: 1. The list does not include every Texas college athlete or those representing other countries, 2. Information is as of press time; check listings for most up-to-date information, and 3. Yes, soccer and rugby really do start two days early, on July 24.)

Now, on your mark, get set, Go Team USA!

Women’s Artistic Gymnastics

Simone Biles, Spring
Events: Women’s Team Gymnastics
Watch: Women’s Team Qualification - July 28, 4:40 am on Peacock and E!; 6 pm on NBC

Simone Biles, Paris 2024 Olympics Simone Biles practices on balance beam at Gymnastic Training Centre of Le Bourget on July 23. Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images

Jordan Chiles, Conroe
Events: Women’s Team Gymnastics
Watch: Women’s Team Qualification - July 28, 4:40 am on Peacock and E!; 6 pm on NBC

Hezly Rivera, Plano
Events: Women’s Team Gymnastics
Watch: Women’s Team Qualification - July 28, 4:40 am on Peacock and E!; 6 pm on NBC

Men’s Artistic Gymnastics

Asher Hong, Plano/Tomball
Events: Men’s Team All-Around Gymnastics
Watch: Men’s Team Qualification - July 27, 4 am on Peacock and E!; 7 pm on NBC

Note: A complete schedule of Women’s and Men’s Gymnastics team and individual competitions can be found here.

Track & Field

Fred Kerley, San Antonio
Events: Men's 100m, Men's 4 x 100m Relay
Watch: (100m heats) August 3, 3:35 am on Peacock and E!; (4 x 100m Relay heats) August 8 - 4:35 am on Peacock and 8 am on NBC

Sha’Carri Richardson, Dallas
Events: Women's 100m, Women's 4 x 100m Relay, Women's 200m
Watch: (100m heats) August 2 - 3 am on Peacock and E!, 9 am and 7 pm on NBC; (Relay heats) August 8 - 3 am on Peacock, 8 am on NBC; (200m heats) August 4 - 3 am on Peacock and USA

Dallas' Sha'Carri Richardson is going for gold, along with the title of "World's Fastest Woman." Getty Images

Alaysha Johnson, Spring
Events: Women's 100m Hurdles
Watch: August 7 - 3:15 am on Peacock and USA

Brynn King, The Woodlands
Events: Women's Pole Vault
Watch: August 5 - 3:40 am on Peacock

Bryce Deadmon, Houston
Events: 4 x 400m Relay Mixed
Watch: August 2 - 12:10 pm on Peacock and E!

Jacob Wooten, Tomball
Events: Men's Pole Vault
Watch: August 3 - 3:10 am on Peacock

Joseph Brown, Mansfield
Events: Men's Discus Throw
Watch: August 5 - 3:10 am on Peacock

Jasmine Moore, Grand Prairie
Events: Women's Long Jump, Women's Triple Jump
Watch: (Long Jump heats) August 6 - 4:15 am on Peacock; (Triple Jump heats) August 2 - 11:15 am on Peacock

Gabby Thomas, Austin
Events: Women’s 200m
Watch: August 4 - 3 am on Peacock and USA

Austin's Gabby Thomas is surging toward gold. Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Jarrion Lawson, Texarkana
Events: Men's Long Jump
Watch: August 4 - 4 am on Peacock

Taliyah Brooks, Wichita Falls
Events: Women's Heptathlon
Watch: August 8 - 3 am on USA and Peacock

Bryce Hoppel, Midland
Events: Men's 800m
Watch: August 7 - 4:45 am on Peacock and USA; 8:20 am on NBC

Swimming

Simone Manuel, Sugar Land
Events: Women's 50m Freestyle
Watch: August 3 - 4 am on Peacock and USA

Sugar Land's Simone Manuel has already made Olympic history. Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images

Nic Fink, Dallas
Events: Men's 100m Breaststroke
Watch: July 27 - 4 am on USA and Peacock

David Johnston, Dallas
Events: Men's 1500m Freestyle, Men's 10km (open water)
Watch: August 3 - 4 am on Peacock and USA; August 9, 12:30 am on Peacock and USA

Matt King, Frisco
Events: Men’s 4x100 Freestyle Relay
Watch: July 27 - 4 am on Peacock and USA

Shaine Casas, McAllen
Events: Men's 200m Individual Medley
Watch: August 1 - 4 am on Peacock and USA

Breaking

Jeffrey Louis, Houston
Events: B-Boys
Watch: August 10 - 9 am on Peacock; 9:30 am on E!

Jeffrey "B-boy Jeffro" Louis, breaking Jeffrey "B-boy Jeffro" Louis of Houston will compete in the first-ever Olympic Breaking event.Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images

Basketball

Brittney Griner, Houston
Events: Women’s Basketball (5x5)
Watch: July 29 - 2 pm on USA

Hailey Van Lith, Fort Worth (TCU)
Events: Women’s Basketball (3x3)
Watch: July 30 - 10:30 am on Peacock and NBC

TCU's Hailey Van Lith (right) will compete in Women's 3x3 Basketball. Getty Images

Cycling

Grant Koontz, Houston
Events: Men's Omnium
Watch: August 8 - 10 am on Peacock; August 9, 2:30 am on USA

Field Hockey

Kelsey Bing, Houston
Events: Women’s field hockey
Watch: July 27 - 12:45 on CNBC

Golf

Scottie Scheffler, Dallas
Events: Men's Individual Stroke Play
Watch: August 1 - 5 am on Golf Channel

Scottie Scheffler at 2022 World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play Scottie Scheffler is a favorite to bring home the gold in golf. Photo courtesy of PGA Tour

Volleyball

Avery Skinner, Katy
Events: Women's Team Volleyball
Watch: July 29 - 10 am on USA and 4 pm on NBC

Chiaka Ogbogu, Coppell
Events: Women's Team Volleyball
Watch: July 29 - 10 am on USA and 4 pm on NBC

Boxing

Joshua Edwards, Houston
Events: Men's +92kg
Watch: July 29 - 4 am on Peacock

Roscoe Hill, Spring
Events: Men’s 51kg
Watch: July 30 - 4 am on Peacock

Jennifer Lozano, Laredo
Events: Women's 50kg
Watch: July 28 - 4 am on Peacock

Rugby

Orrin Bizer, The Woodlands
Events: Men’s Team Rugby
Watch: July 24 - 8 am on Peacock; 10 am and 6 pm on USA

Kevon Williams, Houston
Events: Men’s Team Rugby
Watch: July 24 - 8 am on Peacock; 10 am and 6 pm on USA

Diving

Kassidy Cook, The Woodlands
Events: Women's Synch. 3m Springboard
Watch: July 27 - 4 am on Peacock and NBC

Sarah Bacon, Kassidy Cook, Olympic diving Kassidy Cook and Sarah Bacon, always in sync.Photo by Maja Hitij/Getty Images

Alison Gibson, Austin
Events: Women's 3m Springboard
Watch: August 7 - 8 am on Peacock and E!

Taekwondo

Jonathan Healy, Spring
Events: Men +80kg
Watch: August 7 - 2:30 am on Peacock

Tennis

Austin Krajicek, Allen
Events: Men's Doubles
Watch: July 27 - 5 am on Peacock

Shooting

Vincent Hancock, Argyle
Events: Skeet Men
Watch: August 3 - 8:30 am on Peacock and 10:45 am on CNBC

Ryann Phillips, Gail
Events: Trap Women
Watch: July 31 - 8:30 am on Peacock

Conner Prince, Burleson
Events: Skeet Men
Watch: August 3 - 8:30 am on Peacock and 10:45 am on CNBC

Austen Smith, Keller
Events: Skeet Women
Watch: August 4 - 8:30 am on Peacock and 1:30 pm on CNBC

Keith Sanderson, San Antonio
Events: Men's 25m Rapid Fire Pistol
Watch: August 5 - 2:30 am on Peacock and 8:30 pm on USA

Sport Climbing

Sam Watson, Southlake
Events: Men's Speed
Watch: August 6 - 6 am on Peacock and USA

Sam Watson, Speed Climbing Southlake speed climber Sam Watson completes his event in about five seconds. Photo by Claudio Santana/Getty Images

Rowing

Teal Cohen, Dallas
Events: Women's Quadruple Sculls
Watch: July 27 - 2 pm on Peacock and USA

Kaitlin Knifton, Austin
Events: Women's Four
Watch: July 28 - 2 am on Peacock

Soccer

Jaedyn Shaw, Frisco
Events: Women’s Soccer Team
Watch: July 25 - 2 pm on Peacock, 8 pm on USA

Weightlifting

Jourdan Delacruz, Wylie
Events: Women's 49kg
Watch: August 7 - 12:30 pm on Peacock

nbc channels team usa texas athletes olympics olympic broadcast

Light it up, y'all!

Heroic Texas holiday display charges up for Great Christmas Light Fight

Mach Christmas Display, Ennis, Great Christmas Light Fight

Photo courtesy of ABC

The Mach Christmas display in Ennis will compete on ABC's Great Christmas Light Fight on December 19, 2024.

Patrick Mach harbored a Texas-sized dream to compete on ABC’s The Great Christmas Light Fight. When he finally got the call, he built Texas. The Mach Christmas Display — a massive, walk-through attraction in the North Texas town of Ennis — will compete on the hit reality competition on Thursday, December 19.

They’ll battle against three other families around the country for $50,000, a trophy, and serious bragging rights.

“It’s a bucket-list item to be on the show,” Mach says. “I’ve always wanted to be on since season one.” (The show is now in season 12.)

The Mach family — Patrick and wife Natasha and their four kids, Natalie (17), Ethan (16), Noelle (12), and Brandon (11) — all pitched in to create the display and will appear on the show.

The family lives on a “mini-ranch” in the Ennis-Alma area, about 40 minutes south of Dallas. (Ennis is famous for its Bluebonnet Trails in the spring.) Three-and-a-half acres of their 10-acre property are taken over by their Christmas lights extravaganza each holiday season. It even has its own electrical meter.

“Texas” uses half-a-million lights, 200 inflatables, and custom-built pieces to depict 40 cities and towns across the Lone Star State (though not actually in the shape of Texas). Each is marked with a green city-limits sign and has a vignette that represents the city.

San Antonio has a giant, 8-foot-tall Alamo outlined in lights and a River Walk bridge crossing a blue river. “Space City” Houston has rockets and Buzz Lightyear, and “Live Music Capital” Austin has a guitar with strings that “play.” (A custom Texas Capitol building will be constructed for next year’s display.)

Mach Christmas Display, Ennis, Great Christmas Light Fight The Fort Worth section nods to Texas Motor Speedway and the Fort Worth Herd.Photo courtesy of ABC

Fort Worth gets longhorns and a Texas Motor Speedway-inspired racetrack, complete with “Lightning McQueen” and “Tow Mater” Disney/Pixar characters. Dallas features a custom wireframe outline of the skyline, plus Dallas Cowboys inflatables and a whole section devoted to the State Fair.

The smaller Texas town displays are just as creative: Glen Rose has dinosaurs, College Station has Texas A&M-inspired military drummers, New Braunfels has a polar bear floating the river, and Ennis, of course, has bluebonnets.

Mach Christmas Display, Ennis, Great Christmas Light Fight The Glen Rose section has dinosaurs.Photo courtesy of ABC

In a nod toThe Great Christmas Light Fight host Carter Oosterhouse, they added Carter, Texas — yes, an actual town in Parker County — just for the show. It included a mural of Oosterhouse riding a bull. The host, Mach says, was impressed.

Love of Christmas
The Machs’ drive to light up a Texas-sized spectacle comes from their deep love of Christmas. Patrick and Natasha met on a dating app when she “hearted” his Christmas-y photo. On one of their first dates, during the pandemic, they watched a Great Christmas Light Fight marathon. He proposed to her on his Christmas lights display at home. They married in a Christmas-themed wedding three years ago, and Santa even showed up.

Patrick Mach had grown up loving Christmas and putting up displays with his father, from whom he learned carpentry. His dad gifted him an old-fashioned blow-mold nativity scene in 2004; he then passed away on December 30, 2006.

“So since he passed so close to Christmas, every year I did a little more to keep mind off what happened … then it just became so big,” Mach says.

In fact, Mach had been nominated for the Light Fightevery year since 2019. He never thought he was ready.

“It took a few years to commit,” he says, “then 2023 came around and we said, ‘Let’s go.’”

The family found out they’d made the show in September 2023. Filming would take place around Thanksgiving. Each member of the family, plus an army of friends, worked from a “battle plan” to design and build the display, which would be greatly expanded for the show.

“From 2022 to 2023, we doubled the display,” he says. “It was all hands on deck. We were still working on it the day they showed up (to film).”

The shoot lasted a few days and was an “awesome experience,” Mach says. The crew became like family.

“Behind the scenes we were always cutting up, laughing, the kids made friends with the producers,” he says. “We still text message with the producers every so often, and one camera guy brought us a Christmas display item that he doesn’t use and wanted to go to a good family.”

Two things that surprised him behind the scenes: how strict they were about using copyrighted characters and images (no Grinches allowed) and how tiring the filming was.

“After we filmed, I slept the best I'd slept in months,” he jokes.

Mach Christmas Display, Ennis, Great Christmas Light Fight The Mach family with Great Christmas Light Fight host Carter Oosterhouse.Photo courtesy of Patrick Mach

He remains tight-lipped about the outcome of the show. But if the family does win, he’d like to put the $50,000 toward a well-deserved vacation. They're the fourth Texas contenders on this season of Light Fight; so far, none has been victorious.

See it in person
Win or lose, the Mach Christmas Display will remain on for the public to walk through and enjoy on select nights through the holidays. (Watch their Facebook page for the schedule.) There’s no charge to see it, but they do collect donations for local charities such as Toys for Tots, Helping Hands of Ennis, and the SPCA.

It can be a little tricky to find, and GPS doesn’t always route to the right place, so they advise visitors to use the pin they’ve dropped on Google Maps.

Although the Machs have attracted visitors from several hours away, they remain focused on sharing their love of Christmas with their community.

“Ennis is a smaller town, and this is our way of giving back to the community,” Mach says, “of giving families something to do around the holidays because there’s nothing around here like this.”

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The Machs’ episode of The Great Christmas Light Fight will air at 7 pm Thursday, December 19 on ABC and will be available to stream on Hulu the next day. The Mach Christmas Display is open on select nights through the holiday season; follow their Facebook page for the schedule and more information. The address is 171 FM1183, Ennis, 75119. Follow the directions at the pin on Google Maps. For lists of Fort Worth's best Christmas lights, go here and here.

Photo courtesy of ABC

The Mach Christmas display in Ennis will compete on ABC's Great Christmas Light Fight on December 19, 2024.

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Light it up, y'all!

Heroic Texas holiday display charges up for Great Christmas Light Fight