If you’re a baseball fan and have cut the cord in recent years, you’re probably wondering whether one can watch in-market Major League Baseball (MLB) games on MLB.TV. MLB.TV shows out-of-market games to baseball fans and blacks out ones in-market to protect regional sports networks, but can a VPN help with that? We have an answer.
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MLB.TV and a VPN
Yes, we can confirm that MLB.TV users can, in fact, watch blacked out games with a virtual private network (VPN) in the home market provided that the VPN is set to a location outside of the viewing area.
A VPN can mask the actual location of a user, and allow that individual to appear in a completely different part of the globe. Thus, it will unlock access to games on MLB.TV that are usually not available to the everyday fan. That is because MLB.TV’s purpose is give baseball fans access to out-of-market games.
In our personal testing, we used ExpressVPN. However, other VPNs like NordVPN or even a brower extension that shifts the user’s IP address should theoretically work, as well.
We should note, however, that this capability is subject to change. Several streaming apps, like TNT and TBS, have implemented mechanisms that prohibit users to make use of a VPN while on the app. MLB.TV could adpot something like this in the future. Additionally, one has to wonder the future of MLB.TV as a whole.
Thanks to Diamond Sports Group‘s bankruptcy and Warner Bros. Discovery attempting to leave the regional sports network (RSN) business, the streaming side of Major League Baseball could very well be affected. In fact, it’s not out of the question that MLB opts to do a fresh streaming deal like the MLS, and have games streamed both in and out-of-market.
Note: VPNs are legal to use in the United States. However, we do not endorse any, nor the usage of, virtual private networks (VPNs) in tandem with MLB.TV. We are only stating whether one can watch MLB.TV games with the aid of a VPN. We are not responsible for any consequences should one lose access to an MLB.TV account due to the usage of a VPN.
