Baseball is well regarded as the national game of the United States, and MLB.TV is its heart. The channel and its staff work hard all year to provide its audience with the best of sports and entertainment.
However, it's downright frustrating to miss a home run due to an MLB blackout, which has become a common occurrence in recent times.
What is MLB Blackout? Can you bypass it? We answer these questions and more in this post.
Every MLB game is subject to a local or regional blackout. It doesn't sound very pleasant to us as viewers, but there is a reason why the executives follow this particular business model. It is not to send away viewers like us from the game but to follow certain broadcast rights.
Big media companies and broadcast stations negotiate these broadcasting rights before every season. These rights cover specific games or teams for a time frame in the year. So when agreed upon, the broadcasting rights exist solely with that station or company like FOX, ESPN, etc.
So it is quite common that the station does not want to share the rights to broadcast games under their contract. Moreover, not many stations offer online streaming of MLB games.
In these situations, sometimes even MLB cannot broadcast a game because they do not have the rights to it. This means missing out on important games during the season and losing track of your favorite team's progress.
Fortunately, there are ways to get around MLB blackout. Whether you're streaming the games on an iOS or Android device, you can ensure you never miss a moment by keeping blackouts at bay.
You can bypass the MLB blackout and tune into the station streaming your game in real-time. iPhone users can do this in the following ways:
The first step is to set a fake location on your iOS device. Setting a fake location opens your device to many possibilities of finding good quality streams from around the globe. To achieve this feat, you need a tool called MockGo. It makes spoofing your location very easy and simple.
Here are some key features of MockGo:
Follow the simple steps below to mock your location on iOS. MockGo is very simple and safe to use.
You may also need to download a good-quality VPN app on your phone to move to the next step. The VPN runs your connection through a remote server on your device, which will trick the MLB stream and let you enjoy your games.
If the MLB games are under a national blackout, you can connect to a server in a geographically close country like Mexico to enjoy the game. The Canadian servers might also not work in a national blackout because the Toronto Blue Jays are also a part of the league.
The best VPN to use in this scenario is ExpressVPN. ExpressVPN comes with the following features:
Follow these steps to set up ExpressVPN on your device to watch MLB games:
If you wish to bypass the MLB blackout on the MLB At Bat app on Android, we would like you to know that it is harder than ever. The app developers are constantly improving the tech that detects VPN connections.
You can no longer use a fake GPS app on Android to spoof your location and use a VPN server. MLB At Bat now requires your GPS location before you proceed to click on any matches.
If the app sees you using a mock location, it will immediately block you from going any further.
Here are some tips which can still work on bypassing the MLB blackout on Android, but we do not guarantee the effectiveness of any of these tips.
Now your have three options to try:
Option 1:
Option 2:
Option 3:
A VPN easily changes the IP address of your web browser to a remote address. After you connect to the VPN on your computer, clear the cookies and refresh your page. You will find a stream that works with your fake IP address. Make sure that you pick a server from the location where the MLB blackout does not apply.
If you choose the location's server under blackout, you will receive the 'we are sorry' prompt. We suggest connecting to a country geographically near to keep your internet speed running high during streaming.
No, it's perfectly legal to use a virtual private network for bypassing MLB blackouts. However, there are restrictions on bypassing the blackout terms. It states that MLB has the right to report this misconduct to law enforcement agencies.
You can check a zip code on the MLB website to see which games are blacked out in an area.
Yes, there are alternatives to MLB.TV. The best ones are:
These services also require a US address and payment method to work but are less stricter than MLB.TV.
We hope that the tools and tricks mentioned above can help you enjoy your chosen MLB games without delay. Keep in mind that the app keeps changing its rules, so you need to stay up to date with the latest workarounds to stream MLB games with the help of a VPN tool.
Mako is a technical freelance writer with a passion for all things tech. Whether you're wondering about how to fix your iPhone or trying to get something to work in your settings, Mako is your go-to for professional help. He loves writing, testing solutions, and most of all, making sure his research is factually accurate.