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Best Free VPN Trial
We found NordVPN, CyberGhost, and Surfshark to be the best virtual private networks (VPNs) for watching restricted games on MLB.TV.
NordVPN has the best selection of U.S. server locations, so you can always avoid a blackout. Surfshark allows for unlimited simultaneous connections, so you can avoid those blackouts on every device in your home. Finally, CyberGhost is the best option if you're looking for a free trial and long money-back guarantee to try out the VPN for a prolonged period.
Let's dig into why these are the best VPNs for MLB.TV.
How we tested the best VPNs for MLB.TV
NordVPN
Surfshark
CyberGhost
Honorable mentions
Speed tests
How to watch MLB.TV blackout games with a VPN
FAQs
Bottom line: The best MLB.TV VPNs
The best VPNs for MLB.TV
Whether you’re a diehard Yankees fan or just want to catch a few Major League Baseball games, MLB.TV is the go-to streaming service for MLB games. It streams every game, which is helpful if you can’t access a game on other networks.
However, MLB.TV does restrict you from watching professional baseball games in your local market. So if you’re in Chicago and hoping to live stream the Cubs game, you may be out of luck with MLB.TV. If the game is available on local stations in Chicago, it will be unavailable on the streaming platform.
That's where VPNs come in. With a VPN, you can change your IP address to appear as if you're in a different city. That way, you can avoid MLB blackouts all from the comfort of your own home.
- NordVPN: Best U.S. server count
- Surfshark: Best for unlimited devices
- CyberGhost: Best for starting with a free trial
Top 3 VPN services for MLB.TV compared
VPN | |||
Starting price | Starts at $2.99/mo (billed every two years) | Starts at $1.99/mo (billed every two years) | Starts at $2.03/mo (billed every two years) |
# of servers in the US | 1,970+ servers in 16 server locations | 600+ servers in 22 server locations | Unknown number of servers in 11 server locations |
Streaming optimized servers | |||
Learn more | Get NordVPN
Read NordVPN Review |
Get Surfshark
Read Surfshark Review |
Get CyberGhost
Read CyberGhost Review |
How we tested the best VPNs for MLB.TV
When looking for the best VPNs for streaming every MLB game, we looked at a few different criteria.
Server locations and availability throughout the United States are important so you always have an option to avoid local blackouts. We also wanted to ensure that the VPNs we selected offered fast speeds for streaming so that you don’t have to worry about buffering when the bases are loaded.
We evaluated additional features of the VPN and how they could help users outside of watching MLB. If you’re paying for a VPN for streaming MLB games, you may as well use it to help protect your online privacy at the same time. We evaluated each VPN's privacy, ensuring they had proper encryption and a strict no-log policy to keep your internet activity safe.
NordVPN: Best for U.S. server locations
Who it’s best for
NordVPN is a great comprehensive VPN for all your needs, and we found it particularly useful for those invested in Major League Baseball overall, not just a specific team. It offers a roster of U.S.-based server locations, which is particularly beneficial for streaming MLB games around the country.
NordVPN offers over 1,970 servers in 16 U.S. locations to help you access every MLB game.
What we liked
NordVPN is one of our top-rated VPN providers for many reasons. First, the VPN platform offers a variety of plans to help you protect your internet activity and your online presence.
NordVPN’s Standard plan gives you complete access to its VPN capabilities, including double VPN servers, an ad blocker, and dark web monitoring. Each plan thereafter offers additional tools to help protect your information, such as:
- NordPass: a password management solution
- NordLocker: an encrypted storage platform
- Incogni: a personal data removal tool that asks third parties to delete your data
When testing NordVPN’s speeds, it actually increased our speed with each server location. Connecting to a VPN can decrease your internet speeds, so finding one that doesn’t critically limit yours is important, especially if you’re cheering on a live game.
We also liked NordVPN’s Threat Protection feature, which blocks malicious ads and sites from your computer. It also offers a kill switch, which keeps you from being disconnected from the VPN and unknowingly using the internet when you’re not connected.
NordVPN offers a 30-day money-back guarantee to try out the platform. You’ll have to cancel your account and request a refund within those initial 30 days if you don't like it.
What we didn’t like
NordVPN offers several different plan options, which can be confusing. All options above the Standard plan give you additional solutions like a password manager and encrypted file storage, which aren't necessary for streaming MLB.TV games.
NordVPN is also the most expensive VPN for MLB.TV, with its st arting price being about a dollar more than CyberGhost and Surfshark.
NordVPN specs
Price range | $2.99–$17.99/mo |
Money-back guarantee | Yes — 30 days |
Number of servers | 6,800+ servers in 111 countries |
Number of connected devices | 10 |
Average speed | 394.15 Mbps |
DNS leak test | Pass |
Kill switch test | Pass |
VPN protocol | NordLynx (WireGuard), OpenVPN, IKEv2/IPsec |
No-logs policy | No logs |
Unblocks Netflix? | Yes |
Torrenting support | Yes |
Learn more | Get NordVPN
Read NordVPN Review |
Surfshark: Best for unlimited devices
Who it’s best for
Surfshark can help you multitask without missing a game. One of Surfshark’s benefits is that this VPN platform allows you to have an unlimited number of connected devices.
In most cases, you may not need more than a couple of devices connected to a VPN at a time. But if you’re traveling with family members or need several simultaneous connections to a VPN, it’s nice to be able to protect an unlimited number of devices.
What we liked
Surfshark offers servers in 22 major U.S. cities, allowing you to avoid blackouts no matter where you are in the U.S. It also has several additional features that make it a secure VPN for watching MLB.TV games and protecting your internet connection.
Here are just a few of those great features:
- Bypasser: This allows you to set which internet activity goes through the VPN and what doesn’t. You can have the VPN turned on for MLB.TV but turned off for your email and other activities simultaneously.
- CleanWeb: You won’t have to deal with unwanted ads, pop-ups, or worry about malicious sites with Surfshark’s CleanWeb feature. It can also help you block video ads on your smart devices.
- Rotating IP: Surfshark doesn’t leave your IP stagnant. Your IP address will be continually changed to give you even greater security.
Surfshark One gives you far more than just access to a VPN. Surfshark One also gives you access to antivirus software, a private search engine, and a data breach detector.
You’ll get better pricing with Surfshark if you agree to a two-year commitment. You can snag a 24-month subscription to Surfshark for only $1.99/mo (billed every two years).
What we didn’t like
If you’re worried about internet privacy, you may have concerns about Surfshark’s headquarters being in the Nine Eyes alliance. Surfshark is headquartered in the Netherlands, a country that has pledged to share national security information with other member countries if necessary.
But if you’re just using your VPN for streaming MLB games, it’s not likely that you’re putting national security at risk.
Surfshark specs
Price range | $1.99–$17.95/mo |
Money-back guarantee | Yes — 30 days |
Number of servers | 3,200+ servers in 100 countries |
Number of connected devices | Unlimited |
Average speed | 298.09 Mbps |
DNS leak test | Pass |
Kill switch test | Pass |
VPN protocol | WireGuard, OpenVPN, IKEv2 |
No-logs policy | No logs |
Unblocks Netflix? | Yes |
Torrenting support | Yes |
Learn more | Get Surfshark
Read Surfshark Review |
CyberGhost: Best free trial
Who it’s best for
CyberGhost is a great VPN if you’re looking to try one out for MLB.TV before you commit to a plan. It has a free trial, so you can give it a practice run before you commit, and it doesn’t require a credit card to try it out. These are CyberGhost's trial options:
- 24-hour free trial for Windows and macOS
- Three-day free trial for Android
- Seven-day free trial for iOS
If you’re not sure which VPN you want, CyberGhost’s free trial is a good way to explore the service and see if it will work well for your situation.
What we liked
CyberGhost is an easy-to-use VPN. We like it because we had no trouble finding and connecting to servers around the world, with 11 server locations in the U.S.
CyberGhost even indicates the best servers for streaming, gaming, or torrenting. You can also create favorite lists and mark the servers that work best for you or your favorite MLB teams.
In addition to the free trial options, CyberGhost also offers a 45-day money-back guarantee. That way, you have plenty of time to try the VPN and see if it suits your baseball-watching needs.
What we didn’t like
CyberGhost offers the smallest number of U.S. server locations compared to NordVPN and Surfshark. Depending on your location, this may cause some issues when trying to get around geo-restrictions.
Also, CyberGhost only offers split tunneling for Android. This means that all of your website traffic has to be routed through the VPN or nothing at all.
Without split tunneling, you may have issues accessing different websites. For instance, you may run into trouble if you want to work while watching the game, but your company doesn’t allow a VPN connection for certain tasks. In this case, you must use two devices or choose between work and baseball (not always an easy decision).
CyberGhost specs
Price range | $2.03–$6.99/mo |
Money-back guarantee | Yes — 30 days |
Number of servers | Unlisted in 100 countries |
Number of connected devices | 7 |
Average speed | 394.15 Mbps |
DNS leak test | Pass |
Kill switch test | Pass |
VPN protocol | WireGuard, OpenVPN, IKEv2 |
No-logs policy | No logs |
Unblocks Netflix? | Yes |
Torrenting support | Yes |
Learn more | Get CyberGhost
Read CyberGhost Review |
Honorable mentions
While we picked our top three, we found a few other reliable VPNs you might like for watching professional ball games online.
- ExpressVPN: ExpressVPN is another reputable VPN with fast speeds, thanks to its Lightway protocol, but we don’t think the higher price is worth the speed. It also has apps for your router, Apple TV, Roku, Android TV, Amazon Firestick, and more so you can stream MLB.TV to your heart's content.
Get ExpressVPN | Read Our ExpressVPN Review - Proton VPN: Proton VPN is a great free VPN. With the free plan, you can access servers in the U.S., Japan, and the Netherlands. It also offers paid plans that will give you full access to its server network.
- IPVanish: Another VPN that you may want to consider is IPVanish. This VPN offers unlimited devices and doesn’t keep logs of your activity. It also has a sizable team of 2,400+ servers.
Speed tests
Of our top three VPNs for MLB.TV, NordVPN was the fastest by a landslide. It caught us by surprise because it nearly doubled our download speeds while connected to a U.S. server.
You can typically expect your VPN to slow down your internet connection since it's routing your traffic through an encrypted tunnel. Surfshark only slowed down our speed by 4%, which was barely noticeable. Unfortunately, CyberGhost decreased our speeds by almost 50%.
VPN speed to U.S. server | Normal speed | Speed loss | |
NordVPN | 430.75 Mbps | 297.64 Mbps | 45% increase |
Surfshark | 333.43 Mbps | 345.75 Mbps | 4% decrease |
CyberGhost | 97.36 Mbps | 186.21 Mbps | 48% decrease |
How to watch MLB.TV blackout games with a VPN
MLB.TV restricts access to certain games because those games are already available on a local network channel. MLB.TV may also blackout certain games for other reasons based on MLB contracts and exclusivities. You may find MLB blackout restrictions even in the away team’s market.
While this may be frustrating when you’re trying to stream a game, a VPN can help you bypass MLB.TV blackouts.
By using a VPN, you can change the way your location appears to MLB.TV, which gives you the ability to access local blackout games. For instance, if you’re in San Diego and the Padres game is geo-blocked, you can connect to a New York server as a workaround.
You can also use a VPN to stream ball games if you’re traveling aboard and are unable to access MLB.TV from the country you’re in. It’s legal to use a VPN to change your location to access MLB.TV.
Best VPNs for MLB.TV FAQs
What are MLB blackouts?
MLB blackouts are when specific games are unavailable on the MLB.TV streaming platform. These games are restricted because they are available on another network in that specific market.
For instance, if you’re in Atlanta hoping to catch a Braves home game on MLB.TV, it may be blacked-out because it's on a local network.
Does the MLB.TV app work with a VPN?
Yes, the MLB.TV app does work with a VPN. Some of the VPNs that are good for MLB.TV include NordVPN, Surfshark, and CyberGhost.
Why can’t I watch all MLB games?
While all MLB games are available on MLB.TV, the platform restricts games that are also available on other local networks. If a game is geo-restricted on MLB.TV, you can use a VPN to change your location and gain access.
Bottom line: The best MLB.TV VPNs
You’ll be singing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” from the comfort of your own home with MLB.TV and a VPN. NordVPN, CyberGhost, and Surfshark are all great VPNs for MLB.TV as well as other streaming services.
Each of these VPNs will keep your internet speeds optimized for streaming, and you’ll find that each is easy to use. When looking for a VPN server with access to blackout games, you may need to switch to a couple of different servers to find one that doesn’t have the game blacked out. You can also use the MLB.TV website to find which games are blacked out in specific regions.
Finding the best VPN for your case is important. While all of these VPNs are great for streaming MLB games, you may want a VPN that is also great for gaming or that allows torrenting.
3 best VPNs for MLB.TV 2024
Starting price | Best for | Learn more | |
Starts at $2.99/mo (billed every two years) | Best for U.S. server locations | Get NordVPN
Read NordVPN Review |
|
Starts at $1.99/mo (billed every two years) | Best for unlimited devices | Get Surfshark
Read Surfshark Review |
|
Starts at $2.03/mo (billed every two years) | Best free trial | Get CyberGhost
Read CyberGhost Review |