The MLB regular season is in full swing, and that means making time to watch all the games. Unfortunately, not paying for an expensive cable package means you won’t be able to watch most of the games you want to watch, as local channels may not be your favorite team or not, most of which are primetime.
However, you can watch any game you want using an MLB.TV subscription and the MLB At Bat mobile app, but MLB At Bat blackout restrictions still apply. But with a little effort, you can circumvent these blackout restrictions and watch your favorite baseball team whenever and wherever you want.
For this how-to, we’ll show you how to bypass MLB At Bat blackout restrictions, and we’ll use an iPad for the demonstration. But this trick also works on Windows, OS X, Android and iPhone even if you have a 3G or LTE connection.
How does it work?
To bypass MLB At Bat blackout restrictions, you have to trick the app into thinking you’re somewhere you really aren’t. For example, I wouldn’t normally be able to watch my Chicago White Sox game because I’m in the adjacent power outage area of Indiana. However, by using something called a Virtual Private Network (VPN), I can trick MLB At Bat into telling the app that I am located in Florida and clearly outside of the blackout zone.
Of course, if the White Sox play the Miami Marlins at some point, I’d have to change the location to somewhere not close to Florida or Chicago, so I’d change it to California for example.
If it sounds confusing to setup, it really isn’t all that bad and we’ll guide you step-by-step through the process. Lets start!
According to several readers, starting with version 7.1.1 of the MLB At Bat app they seem to have fixed the exploit that allows you to bypass blackout restrictions, so please stick with 7.1.0 or older if possible. Otherwise, you’re out of luck.
Sign Up for MLB.TV
First thing first: Obviously a Subscription to MLB.TV, which will give you access to all live games. We recommend getting the MLB.TV Premium package as it gives you a choice between home and outdoor broadcast feeds as well as getting the MLB At Bat mobile app for free. Plus, you’re only paying $20 more for the entire season and still paying at least $110, so it’s a bargain upgrade.
After signing up, download and install MLB At Bat mobile app on your mobile device. It can be downloaded for free, but there is an in-app purchase to access the entire app. Again, the in-app purchase is free if you’ve purchased an MLB.TV Premium subscription.
Sign Up for a VPN Service
There are loads of VPN services to choose from, but we personally love it. Private Internet Access because it is relatively inexpensive and mostly easy to install. It costs just $40 per year which is just over $3 per month.
Once you’ve signed up for an account and are ready, you’ll want to configure your VPN service to run on your iPad. If you are using a different device, Private Internet Access has guides For Android, Windows, OS X and more.
Configure Your VPN Service
Open the app and go to . Next, tap on it and a pop-up window will appear with various text boxes. This is probably the hardest part of the setup process, so if you can get through this, you’re good to go.
Before filling any of the text boxes, Sign in to your Private Internet Access account If you haven’t already, go to the section entitled and. Click on it and a username and password will open. This is not your new account login, but additional credentials that we will only use on our iPad. Be sure to write down this information or keep the browser window open.
Return to your iPad and select L2TP at the top of the popup. Now fill the text boxes with the following information:
Tap on in the upper right corner and then flip the power switch to . A VPN status logo should now appear next to the WiFi signal in the upper left corner of your iPad’s screen. This means you are ready to go.
To make sure your VPN is working, turn it on and navigate to: www.whatismyip.com. This will tell you your “location”. If it tells you that you are in a place where you are not really, it is working properly.
Play ball!
Now open the MLB At Bat mobile app and tap on the TV icon in the upper right corner. Select the game you want to watch from the list and it will take a few moments to verify your location to make sure you are not in the blackout area. If it detects that you are not in the blackout area, you will receive the signal that everything is fine and you can start watching live matches even if you are really in the blackout area.
