Are you a die-hard sports fan that wants to watch your favourite sports anywhere but you can’t because of geographical restrictions? Whether you are a petrol head whose Formula 1 race (exciting season finale anyone?) or WRC Rally competition event was geoblocked or you’re a concert fan missing out on their favourite band’s festival stream not being available in your region, here’s the best way how to get around a geoblock: unblock sports channels with a VPN.
Even though you love to travel so you can rock at amazing festivals in Europe or if you are a travelling petrol-head who goes overseas to watch the race up close, for example, the WRC Rally of Sardinia, Italy sometimes you simply don’t have the time or the money to travel. Watching your sports heroes compete or your metal gods play from the comfort of your own home is the closest you can get on certain occasions. Or when you are travelling overseas and want to watch your local rugby team play but can’t because it’s not being aired where you are at the moment.
All these situations call for a simple solution called a Virtual Private Network or VPN. A simple technical solution that unlocks almost any geoblock so you can watch whatever you want whenever you want. Here’s how you can unblock sports channels with a VPN.
What is VPN and how does it help against geo-blocked streams?
A virtual private network aka VPN is a technology that creates an encrypted tunnel between your device and a VPN server. Sounds complicated? Not at all.
Let’s say you want to watch content that is only available to people in Austria while you are located in Australia. Your computer connects to the VPN system which you select to be connected to a tunnel to Austria. Via that secure tunnel, you connect to the Austrian stream platform, which thinks that you are located in Austria as your digital journey’s location is set to Austria by the VPN. Now you can watch the content that is for Austrians only. Easy as.
To use roadtrippers speak… Take for example a tunnel on the Blueridge Parkway route (just check out that amazing photo from Aaron below). When you are inside the tunnel, people on the outside cannot see you. That is exactly what a VPN does, it creates a tunnel around your internet traffic but then in an encrypted way.
Or in more tech speak. VPN technology uses advanced encryption techniques and protocols to create a secure connection. This connection is then sent across a series of computers (known as nodes) before being sent out to the final destination. When you connect to a VPN, your device is assigned an IP address which is completely different than your original IP address.
More advantages of using a VPN – great for Digital Nomads
But there are more benefits than just location spoofing to unblock sports channels with a VPN. By using a VPN you will also unlock the following advantages:
Your IP address changes – IP address is a unique number assigned to every device that allows you to connect to the internet. When someone tracks your IP address they can track your activity online. With a VPN, you can change your IP address thus masking it.
Secure Connection – If you are using public wifi you never know what is happening on that network. Someone can be monitoring the user of that public wifi hotspot. A VPN provides you with complete privacy and secures your connection. When you connect to a VPN, your computer becomes connected to the VPN server. All your traffic then travels through this network and is encrypted. This connection is super secure as VPNs are not and cannot be monitored by an external party. A great VPN provider has a no-logging policy and is even certified for this.
Watch Blocked Content – If you are travelling, you may be visiting a country that blocks certain websites. You can unblock (almost) any website’s geoblock and stream sports securely with VPN. Now you can watch your favourite shows, movies, sports, and more.
What is the best easy-to-use VPN for unblocking sports streams?
From all the VPNs that we have tried, these two are by far our favourites. Why? Well, the one is rock-solid and a well-know name in the world of reputable VPN providers, while the other offers a great deal for people wanting to see if a VPN does what it says on the label: unblocking content or to make streaming content worldwide easier…. (but of course there are more reasons to start using a VPN).
Get the best VPN with even more bells & whistles – Go for the complete geek package
If you want to take your VPN game next level and want more countries to choose from then NordVPN is the best solution for you. Nord is a well-known name in the world of digital security and protecting data. NordVPN is their flagship core VPN product that offers even more bang for your buck.
NordVPN also is a reliable VPN for sports events due to the number of locations and servers you can select. Now you can watch sports from anywhere or watch geo-blocked streams from overseas.
Reasons why NordVPN is a great alternative
- They have a huge global network of servers so there are heaps of locations you can choose from, 8,600+ servers that cover 168+ countries.
- Optimised performance for super-fast speeds around the globe.
- A wide range of security protocols is offered: NordLynx (based on WireGuard), IKEv2/IPSec, OpenVPN UDP/TCP
- No-log certified: NordVPN was the first major service to submit its VPN no-log practices for review. PricewaterhouseCoopers AG Switzerland reviewed the policy in 2018 and 2020, with Deloitte reviewed it in 2022 and 2023.
- Great VPN with all the bells and whistles and more countries to choose from: Get a Discounted VPN Plan with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
- More features: Threat Protection Pro, Meshnet, Dark Web Monitor, Dedicated IP (optional).
But Nord offers more than that. If you like to keep all your data security and privacy needs under one roof then you can add NordPass Password Manager to your account as well. Create super safe passwords that are impossible to guess, store than in a secure vault and access them when you need them. It is one of the best Password Managers around for sure.
Get the cheapest VPN deal: from just $0.99
PureVPN is a very affordable VPN provider that is suitable for beginners and pros. Beginners will love the many apps they offer – making it super easy to set up – while the pros will love all the features and the tweaking they can do.
Both type of users will agree on one thing: it is a reliable VPN for sports events. You can use it to unlock live streams and free to air TV channels that broadcast WRC Rally, Formula 1 and other sporting events.
Reasons why PureVPN rocks
- They have a global network of servers so there are heaps of locations you can choose from, 6000+ servers that cover 80+ countries.
- Optimised performance for super-fast speed around the globe.
- Lots of security protocols, including OpenVPN, L2TP/IPSec, SSTP, IKEv2 and WireGuard are supported.
- They are no-log certified
- Affordable VPN with lots of bells and whistles: try now for just $0.99
Why you should use a VPN for unlimited worldwide streaming?
Simple, geoblocking sucks! You want to watch sports wherever and whenever to support your favourites. And a lot of the overseas sports matches aren’t available via your local TV or streaming provider so you’ll have to find an overseas stream to watch it live.
And that is what this article is all about: to be able to watch legal streams – movies, series or sports matches – that are streamed overseas but aren’t available in your country. A VPN unblocks video-on-demand services and other geo-restricted content from anywhere in the world. A VPN gives you the freedom to watch.
Now you can watch sports abroad with a VPN or watch a sports live stream, no matter where you are. Useful if you are at home and a game isn’t broadcasted or streamed live in your country or if you are a travelling sports fan. As you are travelling you can’t keep or have a subscription to one of the official streaming services. These subscriptions are always locked to specific geographical regions. In most countries, it will be difficult for you as a travelling rally fan to find a legal way to stream sports games or gigs.
To watch evens like the World Rally Championship or Formula 1, you either need to buy a pirated IPTV subscription (bad idea) or get a reliable yet affordable VPN and watch an overseas TV channel official high-quality stream. With a reliable VPN for sports events you can unlock these geoblocked streams that usually aren’t available to you as overseas viewer.
Which free-to-air TV channels show sports or live gigs?
No need to go for a vague low-quality somewhat illegal sports stream. There are plenty of official high-quality streams out there showing heaps of sporting events, matches and races. Streaming sports securely with a VPN is easier than you might think.
There are a range of free to air TV channels worldwide that broadcast these sporting events. However, they are only intented for locals aka people that reside in the particular country. They all have super high-quality and reliable live streams of events like the WRC Rally, Formula 1 or the UEFA World Championship Soccer.
You just have to unblock these sports channels with a VPN. This easy-to-use digital tool will fool the geoblocking system into thinking you are streaming from within the country. Easy as. Setting up your VPN is easy. It all starts with creating an account and activating the VPN trial offer:
- Get a PureVPN trial for just $0.99 to test out all its features.
- Or go next level and choose NordVPN’s discounted plan that comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Both offer a reliable VPN for sports events and both are great for unblocking geo-restricted streams. Both offer a wide range of locations and servers to choose from, so if a certain VPN location does get blocked by the stream provider, you select another VPN server in the same country and can watch you sports game again.
Both have excellent set-up guides and apps for almost any device: Android, Apple, Windows, Linux and heaps of smart TVs.
The following European free-to-air TV channels are perfect for streaming sporting events for free.
- Servus TV in Austria (sports)
- ORF in Austria (sports)
- SRF in Switzerland (sports)
- RTL in Luxembourg (various)
- ARTE in France for gigs & festival streams
Every one of them has a selection of sporting events they offer via their live stream. Servus offers the most sporting events, including WRC and Formula 1. The others offer the Formula 1 races and have been tested by our geeks and race fans.
Stream sports securely with a VPN and get around geo-blocked streams
A VPN is great for unblocking geo-restrictive websites so you can watch sports abroad. With a VPN you can also watch sports events that are not available in your country.
As an added benefit, it also helps you to protect your privacy online and evade censorship. It’s an easy-to-use solution for anyone who wishes to get around geo-restrictions and remain anonymous while doing so. A perfect solution for digital nomads and travelling sports fans. Now you can watch your favourite sports anywhere.
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