Why Can’t Your iPhone Use a VPN to Block MLB Blackouts?

By Phillip Swann
The TV Answer Man –Follow on X.
Former editor of 4 TV magazines. Former Sony employee.

TV Answer Man, I have a Norton VPN on my iPhone and I tried to watch the Milwaukee Brewers game on MLB TV while I was camping in the Milwaukee area but it said it was blacked out because I was not in the right market. How come? — name and town withheld.

You can use a VPN (Virtual Private Network) on a streaming device to mask your location and thereby avoid MLB blackouts. In this case, the VPN software on your iPhone could tell MLB TV that you were in New York and therefore you would be eligible to watch the Milwaukee Brewers game even though you were in Milwaukee. MLB TV would think you were out of the Milwaukee market. Normally, without the VPN, the game would be blacked out because it was in market. (MLB TV only offers out of market games.)

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There could be at least two reasons for why the VPN didn’t work for you. One, VPN technology is not perfect. It will mask your location most of the time, but not always. Second, your iPhone’s Location Service could still be on. Because of that, even with the VPN, MLB TV could be picking up your real location.

I would suggest the next time that you try with the Location Service turned to off.

Hope that helps. Happy viewing and stay safe!

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