Many sports networks and services have a policy of restricting certain content to a particular region. This does not have to stand in your way of watching your favorite ball game or sports event even if you are not in that region. Blocked sports content and blackouts are common with major sports networks such as NBA TV, TNT, ESPN, ABC, MLB.tv, and many others. This could prevent you from watching a sports content or event that is blacked out or blocked in your country or region. Those who are subscribed to the international version of these networks and services can still watch all these games live irrespective of their region. This doesn’t have to be a problem. You can still get to watch your blocked content through other means. You can still watch your favorite content through a Virtual Private Network (VPN). This article will discuss how to Unblock Sports Blackouts and Blocked Content?
How to unblock sports blackouts and blocked content?
Virtual Private Network (VPN)
One of the most straightforward ways to get around viewing sporting events live from blacked-out regions is to install a VPN on your device. This is in most cases an effective way to bypass sporting or viewing restrictions and blackouts.
The VPN enables you to change your IP address to a region or country where you can get easy access to the sports events you want to watch. Following this simple guide will get you access to the blacked-out sports event in little time;
- Download a reliable and trusted VPN on your device. Some excellent choices include Express VPN, Surfshark, NordVPN, Proton VPN, and IPVanish.
- Sign in and subscribe to the VPN service.
- Find a server located in the region where the sports event you want to watch is not blacked out
- Go to your online sports tv subscription site and you can now have access to watch the game
How Do Sports Services Detect Your Location?
Most major sports networks that run streaming services go about blocking your access by detecting your location. This is done by detecting your IP address. Most gadgets come with a GPS built-in that allows the network to do this.
The GPS or Global Positioning System is a built-in radio device that functions for many important tasks on your device daily including navigation. This functionality on the other hand makes it possible for streaming services to detect your location and block or black out your viewing access.
How Does The VPN Help You Get Access to Blocked Sports events?
A VPN will work together with your browser to view blacked-out sports events by selecting a server that is not within the range of the blocked or blacked-out regions.
This does not always work in many cases as most mobile devices and desktops are not equipped to bypass the location services that major networks like ESPN or NBA TV have that would still detect your location and restrict your access.
How To Get Around Blackouts and Blocked sporting restrictions on your Browser?
Using a VPN on a browser will in most cases allow you to watch blocked live and restricted content in your region. You can do this by logging into your streaming service after installing and activating the VPN on your gadget or device.
Can You Access Blacked Out or Blocked Sports Events on Your Mobile Device?
Most mobile devices come with a GPS which is always requested by most sports streaming applications such as ESPN and as such your VPN might not be effective in getting around the restrictions effectively.
What If VPN Doesn’t Work?
There are situations where the location services of the networks would detect your desktop or mobile device easily even with a VPN. An option is to connect to internationally enabled services like ESPN+ on your device or laptop. This is because while a VPN can hide your IP address it does not block your location.
There are cases when the streaming service or network can discover you are using a VPN due to certain functions built into their system that goes through your browser history, cache, and cookies. By clearing out all your browser history you can easily ensure this is not detected and you can access your blocked or blacked-out content by picking a server outside the blocked-out region or location.
You can also access your blocked and blacked-out sports events by watching them via Apple TV, Roku, Xbox One, and other non-GPS-enabled devices.
Conclusion
In most cases, the easiest way to get around unblocking sports blackouts and blocked content is to use a reliable and effective VPN. This enables you to select an IP from a different region where these restrictions are not active and you can watch or access your blacked-out sports event and content.
In other cases where this is not possible, you can subscribe to the international version of these streaming services. In cases where this option is available, you can still gain access to the content and live sports events you could not previously access.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I Access blacked-out sporting events?
You can easily do this by installing a VPN on your device and accessing the service through a browser. This will deny location access that comes with streaming apps
Why Are Certain Games Blacked Out in my Area?
You reside in a region or area where such sports content or streaming service is subject to blackout. As a result, you would not be able to access the content.
How Does A Streaming Service Detect My Location?
This action is carried out through the aid of your unique IP address that allows the service to detect your location.
