Can you believe that people used to listen to sports broadcasts on the radio instead of watching them?

If you weren’t in the stadium, you had to imagine the entire scenario in your head or read about it in tomorrow’s paper. That shows how tight of a grip sports have on us. You’d do anything for your favorite team.

Now, it’s easy. You turn on the TV, and you get to see close-up shots and replays in high-definition. You feel closer to your team than ever.

But what happens when you’re traveling and your favorite streaming site is blocked in that country?

You might try to call room service and ask for the TV channel that broadcasts the game. If that doesn’t work, you’re left with one more option. Using a VPN.

Why Should You Use a VPN?

Virtual private networks are a like a cheat code when it comes to sports streaming.

The foremost reason VPNs were invented was to protect military communication. They encrypt the data through safe and secure tunnels, and information passes through. On top of that, they change your device’s IP address.

The cool thing about changing your IP address is that you can pretend to be anywhere worldwide. So, if you connect to a server in the United States, your computer and the internet will think you’re in the United States. Pretty cool, right?

If your favorite streaming service doesn’t work because it geo-restricts its content, you can bypass it with the click of a button.

It’s important to note that this works mainly for websites and doesn’t work on cable TV. That’s because a website gets its information from the internet, while cable TV gets it from its box.

So, you’ll be good to go if you’re using Netflix, Hulu, ESPN, Amazon Prime, HBO, or ITV Hub.

Is it moral to use a VPN?

It might seem that using a VPN is against the rules for football streaming. But that’s not true.

Let’s say you’re watching a Netflix show while you’re at home, and then you go on vacation. Netflix changes its show selection based on where you are. So when you log in from your travel destination, you won’t be able to continue watching from where you left all. The show won’t be in a library.

But you paid for the subscription, and you should be able to use it no matter where you are.

With a VPN, you can access the content from anywhere. It’s a completely legal way to watch shows, sports, or anything else.

However, the situation changes if someone decides to go a step further.

It’s completely different if you use private search engines to look for pirate websites that broadcast streams for free or download movie torrents without paying for them. That’s online piracy.

Another case for using a VPN when watching sports

The United States is renowned for sprinkling its sports streams with too many ads. The commentary isn’t good on international matches like the Premier League, Wimbledon, or the Olympics.

This means that the rest of the world is watching a better stream. If you change your IP address to a country like the UK, you can watch the Olympics or similar events unedited. The goal is to find a better platform.

Similarly, if you’re in Europe or Asia, the NBA, NFL, MSL, and MLB coverages aren’t as good as watching them from the United States. You pick and choose the best place to watch online content based on where you are. You could be at home, or you could be traveling. That’s why VPNs do such a good job.

How to choose the best VPN?

Before you buy a subscription, you need to do a bit of research. Don’t choose the company that shows up first on Google. Instead, determine your needs and start from there.

If you stay home all the time and place a larger emphasis on speed and security, you need to look for encryption types and servers close to you.

If you travel a lot and want to catch up with games from every corner of the globe, you should look for a service with a large number of servers. The more servers, the smoother the experience.

If you’re a gamer, speed should be your number one priority

If you work from home, then go for a service with a no-logs policy.

Depending on your preference, specific services will perform better. It’s up to you to choose the one best for your situation.

Should you get a free VPN?

The short and quick answer is no.

First of all, free services always come with a catch. It could be a limit on how much data you can browse securely. The number of servers is probably low, and your browsing speed will be worse than using dial-up internet. That’s why VPNs have the reputation of slowing down your connection, even though that’s not true for paid services.

Last but not least, the free VPN is probably selling your browsing history to ISPs, marketers, and governments. It beats the point of using a virtual private network if they’re not going to protect your information. All you’re getting is a changed IP address.