The Best VPNs to Beat NBA League Pass Blackouts

After testing 61 VPNs with NBA League Pass, ExpressVPN was one of only two VPNs that could stream the NBA on US and international servers.

The benefit of using US servers in different states is that you’ll be able to get the fastest streaming speeds while using the VPN.

The advantage of working international servers is that you’ll get access to every blacked-out NBA game, including those on national television.

See how ExpressVPN compares to its main competitors in the table below:

ExpressVPN’s excellent performance is down to its large server network. To avoid local blackouts, we connected to a streaming-optimized server in one of the 14 US states it offers — spanning both the East and West Coasts.

While other popular VPNs, including Private Internet Access and CyberGhost, have servers in even more US locations, their US IP addresses are blocked by League Pass. Both VPNs failed to unblock a single live game in our tests.

To conceal our real IP address and avoid nationally blacked-out games, we connected to a server in a country outside of the US or Canada. We recommend the Netherlands or Germany, which are subject to fewer blackout restrictions.

Connecting to servers is simple by using ExpressVPN’s easy-to-use software. Simply tap the three dots on the home screen and select the name of the country you want to appear from.

ExpressVPN server list on iOS (left) and Android (right).

In our NBA League Pass speed tests, ExpressVPN performed better than every other VPN. Live video streams always loaded in the highest resolution and without buffering.

While connected to server locations that bypassed NBA blackouts, like Germany, we recorded speeds of 87Mbps. This is more than fast enough to stream in a maximum 1080p resolution, which requires a minimum connection speed of 3Mbps.

You can see how ExpressVPN’s connection speeds compared to other VPNs for NBA in the table below:

Sadly, MediaStreamer doesn’t work with NBA League Pass. ExpressVPN’s Smart DNS service failed to redirect our traffic and we were blocked from streaming any blacked-out games.

To use ExpressVPN on devices that don’t support VPN apps, like Roku, you can install ExpressVPN onto a compatible router. Thankfully, ExpressVPN’s router app is the best we’ve tested and is as easy to use as its other apps.

The NBA League Pass Android app determines your location using GPS as well as your IP address. As connecting to a VPN server typically only changes the latter, almost every VPN we tested failed to stream blackout NBA games on Android.

Surfshark’s Android app includes a rare fake GPS setting that syncs your location with the VPN server’s. Even top-rated VPNs, like ExpressVPN and NordVPN, don’t offer this functionality.

You can override your GPS location with Surfshark VPN.

But, while we were impressed with Surfshark’s ability to work with NBA League Pass on Android mobile devices, we were disappointed with the VPN’s compatibility with other devices.

Surfshark’s Smart DNS service failed to change our DNS address on Apple TV and games consoles. There’s also no router app available, so we had to set up a virtual router from our PC to watch games on our Roku and Chromecast.

We found that none of Surfshark’s international servers work with NBA League Pass. The service is therefore unable to bypass nationally blackouts, like those on ESPN and TNT.

While connected to its international server locations, including Germany, the UK, and Japan, we always encountered the 7027 error message.

Many of the VPN’s servers in 18 US states worked, though. You can still get a US VPN IP address from outside the blackout area for local non-televised games.

While connected to Surfshark’s US servers, live streams loaded instantly and without errors. We found that videos streamed more quickly when we connected using the WireGuard protocol, too.

Despite its excellent performance, Surfshark is one of the cheapest VPNs on the market.

On its two-year subscription plan, Surfshark costs only $1.99 per month, a saving of over 60% compared to ExpressVPN.

If you set up your account through the iOS, Android, or Mac app, you’ll also be able to use Surfshark free for seven days.

You can see how affordable Surfshark is to rival VPNs in the table below:

In our tests, we could only stream live NBA games using Windscribe Free’s Germany server. We were blocked from accessing the service while connected to all of its other free locations, like the UK and the US.

While this allowed us to access NBA League Pass International to stream every type of blacked-out games, we could not switch to another server whenever it stopped working.

Although this only happened once, it meant we couldn’t stream any games until Windscribe fixed the issue. The premium VPNs in this list, like ExpressVPN and Surfshark, have dozens of compatible servers to prevent this from happening.

Additionally, connecting to a server in Germany from the US meant our speeds dropped from 100Mbps to 80Mbps. ExpressVPN, on the other hand, recorded a download speed of 97Mbps when we connected to a server in a neighboring state.

Windscribe was able to stream live NBA games on all of our devices. It has options for faking your location on Android, Apple TV, and Firestick.

Unlike every other VPN, Windscribe’s Smart DNS feature, Control D, works with League Pass. We used it to stream on our PS5 and LG Smart TV. Although it costs extra, Control D has a 30-day free trial and doesn’t require payment details.

Like Surfshark, Windscribe’s free App comes with a fake GPS setting for Android. Although it wasn’t as easy to set up as Surfshark’s, it still successfully spoofed our GPS coordinates.

For streaming on Roku and Chromecast, you’ll have to share a VPN connection using your PC’s mobile hotspot. If you don’t have one, you’ll have to use Windscribe’s router configuration files, which can be complicated and requires a compatible router.

In the table below, you can see how Windscribe (Free) has better device compatibility than many premium VPNs:

Windscribe is completely free to use. You don’t have to provide any payment details and the app doesn’t push you to upgrade to a premium subscription.

The VPN imposes a number of restrictions on free accounts, including very few server locations and a 10GB monthly data cap.

We found this data cap sufficient for streaming a single game only, as the NBA app automatically adjusts the resolution depending on your internet speed. This meant we weren’t able to choose a lower resolution to save data.

As such, we only recommend Windscribe Free for watching a one-off blackout NBA game. For regular access to NBA League Pass from anywhere, you’ll have to use a paid VPN with unlimited bandwidth.