Major League Baseball is one of the most popular sports in North America, with millions tuning in to every game across the US, Canada, and Mexico.
If you're a baseball fan and MLB TV subscriber, then you'll know about MLB.tv blackouts. Due to MLB exclusivities, the MLB will stop MLB TV subscribers from being able to watch games.
Baseball fans that will be effected by MLB blackouts are as follows:
- Any fans whose team's games are usually blacked out in their state
- Toronto Blue Jays supporters living in Canada
- Oakland A's and San Francisco Giants fans living in Guam
The solution to this is to use a VPN service. VPNs will also allow you to unblock MLB TV if you live outside of the USA. In this article, we will recommend the best VPNs for MLB TV, so you can work around blackouts and geo-restrictions.
The Best VPNs for MLB TV in 2021
Here we take a quick look at the best VPNs for MLB.tv. All the providers referenced in this section are excellent at unblocking sports streaming services and have great privacy features too:
Don't worry, these VPNs are compared and contrasted further down in much finer detail, so have a read if you need a bit more information!
- ExpressVPN - The best VPN for MLB TV. It's a top-class VPN with reliable connections for streaming and excellent privacy features.
- NordVPN - A lightning-quick provider with enough servers in the USA to stream MLB.tv with ease.
- Private Internet Access - A secure VPN with a huge number of US servers and a court-verified no logs claim.
- Surfshark - a quick VPN that allows users to have unlimited simultaneous connections on the same account.
- CyberGhost VPN - CyberGhost has a great user interface and one of the largest server networks in the game.
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When deciding which VPN providers should make it into our list, there were several factors that we considered these were:
- The number of servers a VPN has in the US/North America
- What states these servers are in (if specified)
- Does a VPN have your mobile OS client (if you use the MLB.tv app)
- Good coverage across other countries where MLB.tv is available
- The provider's track record of unblocking content
- Whether a VPN provider has a Smart DNS service
- Connection and download speeds
Obviously, you might have more than one reason why you're looking to invest in a VPN, and privacy is a top priority for many VPN users. If you're in a country where you'll need to bypass censorship laws to access US content, for instance, you'll need a VPN with excellent streaming capabilities but also reliable privacy features. In all honesty, it's worth checking out the privacy tools and features on offer from providers too, wherever you are in the world.
| TEST WINNER ExpressVPN | NordVPN | Private Internet Access | Surfshark | CyberGhost VPN | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Website | ExpressVPN | NordVPN | Private Internet Access | Surfshark | CyberGhost VPN |
| Ranking for MLB.TV | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Performance | 10 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 7 |
| Reliability | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 |
| Free trial | |||||
| Total servers | 3000 | 5300 | 3386 | 3200 | 9723 |
| Payment | PayPal Visa/MasterCard Amex Cryptocurrency | PayPal Visa/MasterCard Amex Cryptocurrency | PayPal Visa/MasterCard Amex Cryptocurrency | PayPal Visa/MasterCard Amex Cryptocurrency | PayPal Visa/MasterCard Amex Cryptocurrency |
| Unblocks: | Netflix iPlayer Disney+ Amazon Prime Hulu | Netflix iPlayer Disney+ Amazon Prime Hulu | Netflix iPlayer Disney+ Amazon Prime Hulu | Netflix iPlayer Disney+ Amazon Prime Hulu | Netflix iPlayer Disney+ Amazon Prime Hulu |
| Supported platforms | Windows macOS iOS Android | Windows macOS iOS Android | Windows macOS iOS Android | Windows macOS iOS Android | Windows macOS iOS Android |
Best VPNs for MLB TV - in-depth analysis
We recommend that you use one of the VPNs below if you want to unblock MLB or bypass blackouts:
ExpressVPN is by far the best VPN for MLB.tv because its connections are so reliable – exactly what you need if you're changing location a lot to avoid blackouts. ExpressVPN Demo ExpressVPN is the best choice for streaming MLB.tv, simply due to its superior streaming capabilities when compared with other VPNs and the way it produces reliable connections. The provider has a Smart DNS service attached to it called Mediastreamer (more on Smart DNS services later) which is great if you're not overly concerned about your privacy when spoofing your location. But if security is top of your concerns, ExpressVPN is also the best in the game. ExpressVPN has over 3,000 servers across the world and plenty of locations throughout the United States. You'll be able to connect to an ExpressVPN server in New York, New Jersey, Salt Lake City, Seattle, Tampa, Washington DC, and many more. With so many locations, state-based IP blocks enforced by MLB.tv – or any other streaming service for that matter – won't be a problem for you. ExpressVPN is one of the quickest VPNs in the game and has a great track record of unblocking content, particularly from MLB.tv – and with servers in 94 countries, if you're struggling to find a US server that can get you around a blackout, there will be one elsewhere you can use. As I mentioned briefly above, ExpressVPN also has a Mediastreamer feature, which is really useful for streaming sports and movies from all over the world and doesn't cost any extra on top of the price of a subscription. ExpressVPN, on top of this, has excellent privacy features to ensure your connection is secure at all times. It has a kill-switch – pretty standard for a VPN – and also uses AES-256 encryption to protect your data. ExpressVPN has even developed its own protocol, Lightway, which has a shorter code than OpenVPN, making it a bit more secure, but it's also designed to increase the speed of connections made to one of ExpressVPN's servers. Admittedly, for the price it costs, ExpressVPN doesn't allow many simultaneous connections. However, everything else on offer is excellent, and as an overall service, there's none that can really compete. ExpressVPN offers a money-back guarantee that turns for 30 days, so you can try out the software and get yourself a refund if it wasn't quite what you expected. NordVPN is incredibly quick, so if you're looking to access a US server from somewhere else in the world, this could be the one to go for. Nord Demo It's hard to compete with NordVPN when it comes to speed, and the provider regularly tops our daily speed tests. This is really crucial if you're connecting to servers in other states or even other countries – the faster the connection time, the better your streaming experience will be. NordVPN, like ExpressVPN, has developed its own protocol. Dubbed Nordlynx, the technology is wrapped around the WireGuard protocol and makes it safer and more secure for better browsing. If you have the money for the subscription, it's a good shout to invest in a VPN that is innovating and doing things like building its own protocols – it's a clear sign they're pack leaders, not followers. To put it another way, it's a sure sign you won't miss out or find yourself using obsolete technology. NordVPN has servers in 15 US cities, which is more than enough to get around geo-restrictions enforced at a state level. However, there are offer 5,200 servers worldwide that belong to NordVPN, so you can always log in internationally – but remember, you will need a form of payment registered in the USA in order to do this. All of NordVPN's US servers have the NordLynx protocol available, so you'll be able to get the speediest viewing experience possible. If you want to stream other things from around the world too, such as BBC iPlayer programs, for instance, NordVPN has a stellar record at unblocking sought-after streaming services like this. NordVPN has really gone all out when it comes to keeping customers safe. As well as all the standard security features they have an Onion-over-VPN tool that will connect you to the Tor network, a Double VPN feature which will reroute your connection through two servers instead of one, and an ad and malware blocker called Cybersec (which is one of the best ones on the VPN market!) NordVPN has exclusively diskless servers, which means nothing is ever written to hard drives and all data is stored using volatile memory (which needs power to work and is wiped when a server powers down). If you'd like to test out some of these tools and features – or just stream a baseball game – NordVPN offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, which means you're not out of pocket if you change your mind. Private Internet Access (PIA) has thousands of US servers for streaming MLB.tv and a fully-featured Linux client for those who use the OS. PIA Demo Private Internet Access has been in the VPN game for over a decade and has been providing a reliable, secure service since it opened its network in 2009. PIA offers a 30-day money-back guarantee on their software, so even if you have a read of what I think are the most important aspects of the provider's service and are still unsure, you'll be able to have a go yourself without losing any money. Private Internet Access is a really good choice for streaming a service that is often blacked out at a state level in the US because most of its 28,000+ servers are located in the United States (and spread across 15 different locations). This means you'll be able to work around any blackouts in your state by simply connecting to one of the many US locations served by PIA. The USA is, however, only one of 78 countries that PIA has servers in – so if there's more you're planning to watch with a VPN, then you'll be in for a treat. PIA has a great reputation when it comes to security and is one of the few VPNs that has had its no-logs claim proved amidst a court case when it was commanded by the US government to hand over logs (spoiler alert: there weren't any to hand over). This has actually happened more than once and has been validating for the provider and its subscribers alike. PIA is also a good option if you're from a friendship group or family of Baseball fans who are also having trouble with MLB.tv's frustrating blackouts policy, as you can use the account on up to 10 devices simultaneously. This is a lot more than either NordVPN or ExpressVPN offer. As I've mentioned just above, PIA is one of the most revered VPNs amongst Linux users and is one of the only providers I personally would class as 'top-tier' that actually has a fully-featured client for Linux and not just a command-line client. This means Linux users who subscribe to PIA will get a kill-switch, PIA MACE (the provider's malware blocker) and there's support for several popular distros. Surfshark is one of our favourites here at ProPrivacy, having only been in the VPN game for a few years and already providing one of the best services. Surfshark Demo Surfshark is a British Virgin Islands-based VPN that has done an amazing job of quickly establishing itself as a trustworthy provider despite only being on the market for three years. One of the reasons for this is that Surfshark is certainly one of the more affordable providers operating in this space. For the features you get and the size of their server network, it's well worth the money. One of Surfshark's most unique features is that it actually doesn't set a limit on how many devices you can use the same device on concurrently. While most providers set it at 5, 6, or 7 - and PIA does a pretty good job with 10 - Surfshark has taken it one step further. So, this might be the ideal provider for you if you know a ton of people (with a ton of devices) having major problems with MLB.tv blackouts. If you split the subscription, it becomes even cheaper too! Surfshark sometimes reminds me of NordVPN in terms of its features, simply because you get so many for what you pay for. Camouflage mode, for instance, will hide your VPN connection from your internet provider, and the CleanWeb tool will protect you from malware and get rid of ads. Surfshark also has a website whitelisting service and uses AES-256 bit encryption to encrypt user traffic. Like NordVPN, Surfshark's servers are diskless. As the company boasts on the website - out of the providers featured in this article - it's the only one with a website whitelister, scope for torrenting, an adblocker, and an independent audit. You won't have to worry about your baseball games buffering with Surfshark thanks to its ability to provide solid speeds. There are a lot of different protocols to choose from, and Surfshark is another provider that throws in a Smart DNS service for users. Surfshark has servers in 24 locations in the US - which is great news for baseball fans - but there are also over 60 countries to choose from too! Surfshark has a 30-day money-back guarantee like the other providers on this list, so download it now to take it for a test run! CyberGhost is a solid choice for unblocking MLB.tv, and even has servers optimized for streaming and a good customer support line. CyberGhost Demo CyberGhost is a Romanian VPN provider that, like PIA, has been in the game for a long time. Personally, I'd say this is a really good VPN for beginners and has all the features you need to get up and running without becoming endlessly complicated. CyberGhost also has a pretty good Smart DNS service, which is a good option if you're not prioritizing privacy. CyberGhost's user interface is really easy to use – in fact, I'd say it's one of the most intuitive interfaces on the VPN market – and it's impossible to get bogged down in a whole list of features when things are laid out so well. I really like CyberGhost's server list, because it shows you which ones are optimized for streaming and which websites or services they're especially good at unblocking. It also has a device limit of 7 too, which is the middle of the road for the VPNs on this list – not as good as PIA or Surfshark, but you'll get a few more pieces of internet-connected tech protected with this provider. CyberGhost has one of the biggest networks on the market (decrease the risk of server congestion), with over 6,900 servers spread across the globe. This means if you can't connect to the US, there will be plenty of other places where you can if you want to unblock MLB.tv. Although this is unlikely to happen because CyberGhost has servers in 11 US cities. CyberGhost utilizes AES-256 bit encryption and has a kill-switch, and although they keep some minimal statistics, no timestamps or IP addresses are recorded so there's no way that data could be linked back to individual users. Perhaps the biggest criticism of the service is that it doesn't have any obfuscated servers (Obfuscated servers are effectively 'stealth' servers that make your traffic appear as if it wasn't coming from a VPN). For this reason, we don't tend to recommend CyberGhost to people living in countries where VPNs are banned, having their legal status is being debated or internet censorship is widespread. However, if you're in a country like the US and you want to stream your favorite baseball team, you don't have to worry about doing it stealthily. 1. ExpressVPN
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Stream baseball no problem
Excellent privacy features
Worth the price?
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Unmatched speeds
US servers and much more
A feature-heavy VPN
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US-focused network
No logs and simultaneous connections
The VPN of choice for Linux users
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No device limits
Tools galore
Solid speeds and US servers
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Optimized servers for streaming
A large network
Security bases covered
How to unblock MLB.tv in five steps
Here's the whole process you'll need to go through to unblock MLB.tv. Once you've finished these five steps, you'll be ready to stream every remaining game of the season:
- Sign up for ExpressVPN or one of the other providers from this article.
- Download the software onto your computer, tablet, or phone.
- Select a server in the United States of America.
- Head over to the MLB.tv page through your browser.
- Select the game you'd like to stream and voilà, you're done!
MLB.tv Blackouts explained
MLB.tv operates what it calls a 'blackout policy' for games it shows in the United States. On the page explaining the ins and outs of this, the company states that:
Due to Major League Baseball exclusivities, live national broadcasts and/or streaming of MLB events and select live national broadcasts and/or streaming of MLB games, will be blacked out in the United States.
Even though MLB.tv seemingly advertises the ability to access round-the-clock games, its games are subject to local copyright agreements and there are blackouts in certain states every time a game is played. This means the blacked-out footage will only become available to view on MLB.tv 48 hours later. This is obviously very frustrating for fans, many of whom have been left with no choice but to buy cable TV packages just to watch their favorite baseball team. For international viewers, there's a blackout:
Due to Major League Baseball exclusivities, select live broadcasts and/or streaming of Major League Baseball events and select live broadcasts and/or streaming of Major League Baseball games will be blacked out internationally outside of the United States.
It's important to note here that MLB.tv is available globally – it's not restricted to the United States or North America, but you will need a US form of payment like a US credit card to sign up. However, at the moment, Toronto Blue Jays are the only team affected by the international blackout policy – their games aren't available through MLB.tv anywhere in Canada.
The website also states that "all live San Francisco Giants and Oakland Athletics games will be blacked out in the U.S. territory of Guam", so if you're a fan of either of these two sides and currently live in the territory, you won't be able to watch the games without a VPN.
How do VPNs help you bypass blackouts and
MLB.tv and other streaming services can enforce these geo-restrictions at both a state and national level due to one thing: IP addresses. Every device connected to the internet has an IP address, which is integral to making sure that data (say a website loading) is transferred to the device that requested it. IP addresses include information about your approximate location, so a site like MLB.tv can essentially block all Texas IP addresses, for example, so anyone trying to watch from Texas will get a 'this content is not available' message.
So, how does one mask their IP addresses and skirt around geo-restrictions? Well, a VPN is really the best option out there. VPNs reroute all your internet traffic, requests, and data through a private server before it gets to the internet, which effectively encrypts all of your activity and masks your true IP address in the process. All the websites you visit will see the IP address of the VPN server you've chosen to connect through, rather than your own.
Above is a diagram to show you the rough path your data takes when you use a VPN.
Comparing VPN speeds
Here at ProPrivacy, we test VPN speeds on a regular basis so our readers have the most up-to-date information on the providers they use or are looking to buy a subscription for. Below you'll find the speediest VPNs:
| ExpressVPN | NordVPN | Private Internet Access | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reliability | 9 | 8 | 8 |
| Performance | 10 | 9 | 8 |
| Speed | 100 | 568.0 | 254.93 |
| ProPrivacy.com SpeedTest (average) | 100 | 85.9 | 62.2 |
Can I use a free VPN for MLB.tv?
You might be thinking at this stage – why should I invest in a paid VPN provider when there are so many free ones knocking about in app stores and adverts? Admittedly, there are some really good free VPN providers out there, but the thing about free VPNs is this: they, unfortunately, have risks associated with them that just aren't a problem with paid providers.
This is usually down to some key differences between paid providers and free VPN companies. For one, a free VPN company without a monthly subscription cash flow has little money to spend on upgrading the security and hardware present on its network, the number of servers, or any other feature. You won't find a free VPN, for instance, leading the way when it comes to speed because it's never going to be able to keep up with the pack.
The next thing you have to ask is: if this is the case, how are free making enough money to stay standing, let alone re-investable profit? Well, that's when it starts to get a bit ugly. There's a number of free VPNs who pool money from advertising, selling data, and various other nefarious practices that it's unfortunate to see a VPN company doing. Some are even worse and stray into putting customers in danger in countries where VPN use is frowned upon or completely forbidden by the government. If you are looking into free VPNs, always check their privacy and also visit our page on free VPNs you should avoid.
Is it illegal to use a VPN to access MLB.tv?
For those new to the VPN scene – or new to privacy software in general – VPNs can, weirdly, 'feel' illegal. It's pretty normal to think that – getting a 'this content is unavailable in your country' message for years and suddenly being able to bypass feels like you're breaking some sort of rule!
In reality, there is a very small list of countries that outright ban VPNs (Russia, China etc.) and a similarly small list of countries where their status is uncertain at best (Cuba, Myanmar). Everywhere else in the world, VPNs are legal to use and millions of people do just that every single day. For context, CyberGhost alone has 15 million subscribers.
What you are likely doing by using a VPN to unblock content is violating an aspect of a streaming services terms of use – but it's not really something a media giant like Netflix or the BBC is going to be too concerned about from an end-user perspective – they may block IP addresses known to belong to VPNs, but you'll just be able to connect to a different server.
What else can I do with a VPN?
We've established in this article how useful a VPN is for streaming Major League Baseball from outside of the US, but what else can you do with this handy bit of tech that we haven't already discussed? Amongst many uses, VPNs can:
- Actively block adverts and malware
- Stop your internet service provider from throttling your bandwidth
- Access bank accounts online from overseas
- Stop companies from collecting your data
There's probably even more, but hopefully, now you get the general gist – with a VPN, the possibilities are virtually endless.
Are there any alternatives to VPNs?
Yes, and no. If you want a full, comprehensive streaming service with all the privacy frills on top, then a VPN is your best bet bar none. However, some people who aren't living in restrictive internet regions and aren't too worried about privacy go for Smart DNS services instead.
Smart DNS services essentially spoof your location like a VPN, but don't encrypt your traffic when they do. Encryption takes time, which means they tend to be a little quicker than a VPN, but obviously you do lose that ability to surf the web privately.
On top of this, most providers now have Smart DNS services attached to their VPN packages, and Smart DNS standalone services cost roughly the same as a VPN. Whatever way you look at it, a VPN is still worth the investment.
Final thoughts
The MLB season is live until September, and there's going to be a game to watch almost every day, so grab yourself a VPN and get streaming if you want to tune in from outside North America. If you're still unsure if which provider works for you, here's a recap of our top picks for MLB.tv:
- ExpressVPN - The best VPN for MLB TV. It's a top-class VPN with reliable connections for streaming and excellent privacy features.
- NordVPN - A lightning-quick provider with enough servers in the USA to stream MLB.tv with ease.
- Private Internet Access - A secure VPN with a huge number of US servers and a court-verified no logs claim.
- Surfshark - a quick VPN that allows users to have unlimited simultaneous connections on the same account.
- CyberGhost VPN - CyberGhost has a great user interface and one of the largest server networks in the game.