Best VPN for NBA League Pass – 2023/2023 Season Review
All diehard basketball fans know that the best way to keep tabs on the latest NBA news and game highlights is by having a subscription to the NBA League Pass. The service allows them to stay on top of all match scores and game fixtures so that they never get to miss any of the action. The only problem that comes about is when one is constantly forced to be on the move, either for leisure or for work. Accessing the NBA League pass then becomes difficult because how well the service will work relies on where you’re accessing it from. To solve such a problem, you need a tool that hides your actual location regardless of wherever you may be. Enter VPN.
Best VPN for NBA League Pass
NBA League Pass – What the Fuss is All About
NBA League Pass is the perfect way to cut the cord and watch your favorite NBA games. The streaming service has grown to be a widely popular platform attracting over 8.7 million followers to its social handles.
There are two versions of the application. First, you get the one in the United States. It’s not that expensive if you know what you’re looking for. There are three types of subscriptions, with each one covering a certain territory in the sport. Take a look below:
- League Pass Premium: $39.99/Month
- Standard League Pass: $28.99/Month
- Team Pass: $17.99/Month
However, the channel is subject to blackouts as ESPN, ABC, and TNT are official broadcasters in the United States. So, whenever the game is on TV, the streaming service will be blacked out. You will be able to bypass the issue after you follow the steps below, so don’t worry.
League Pass Goes International
One of the best ways to avoid blackouts is to subscribe to the International League Pass. But there’s a problem, it’s only available in select countries and can’t be accessed abroad.
Even US residents can’t get a hold of the service unless they use a VPN. Now, the International League Pass is blackout-free. Its subscription is pretty decent as well. Here are the plans in the UK, for example:
- Team Choice: £14.99/month
- League Pass: £24.99/month
- 3-Game Choice: £3.99/month
As different as these two are, they do have one thing in common, their device compatibility. Both League Passes are available on Android, iOS, PC, Mac, Apple TV, Android TV, Xbox One, Roku, and Chromecast.
Bypassing NBA League Pass BlackOuts with VPN
Referred to as a Virtual Private Network in full, this simple technology can mask both your actual identity and your current location so that you’re able to get across any form of geo-restrictions that may be put up by the sites or channels that you’d like to visit.
In our case, there are a couple of countries where accessing the NBA League Pass is sometimes difficult, so to work around this problem, a VPN connection allows you to ‘trick’ the site into thinking you’re within their boundaries thereby granting you full access.
As a user, you don’t need to worry about the technical details that will allow you to access NBA League Pass or any other geo-blocked site. Yours is only to ensure you’ve gone through the following steps:
- Subscribe to a credible VPN service like ExpressVPN.
- Download the ExpressVPN app to your Mac, PC, Android, or iOS device.
- Launch a connection to your provider’s server; anywhere that NBA League Pass restrictions aren’t imposed.
- Sign up for the International NBA League Pass.
- Ensure you have an active connection to your VPN server whenever you want to watch a basketball game.
- Stream NBA wherever you might be using League Pass.
Follow through with these six basic instructions, and you’ll be set to enjoy the best that the NBA has to offer.
Detailed Review of The Best NBA League Pass VPNs
Next, we take a deeper look into 4 of the best-performing VPN services in the market that are sure to guarantee your anonymity, and top-level security.
ExpressVPN – Our Top Recommendation
For a good number of years now, the team behind ExpressVPN has continued to set the benchmark for what should be considered the highest quality of service in the VPN market. Some of the guarantees that this team promises to deliver include:
- Instant chat for help from their customer care team.
- Twenty minutes at most to respond to email inquiries.
- A customer care team that’s on call 24/7.
Choosing the right provider might sometimes be stressful, and the guys at ExpressVPN understand this quite well. That’s why they offer a 30-day money-back guarantee that ensures you don’t get to lose out on any of your hard-earned money in case you find out what they offer isn’t on your list of preferences.
ExpressVPN is also known for having bullet-fast connections that are both reliable and well secured. This means you won’t be waiting for any HD videos to load, or experiencing any lag times when you’re playing any online games.
The service has enough servers distributed around the world to ensure you enjoy a quality connection regardless of the amount of traffic on their servers. You’ll get to experience faster download speeds, unlimited bandwidth as well as no set limits on server switching.
All these features, plus the ability to add five devices under the same VPN connection make ExpressVPN one of the best service providers to turn to, even for basketball fans looking for a reliable connection to enjoy catching games through their NBA League Pass subscription.
Cons
- A bit more expensive than competitors.
BulletVPN
BulletVPN is another top contender that gets to feature on our list. As the name might suggest, server connections through this provider are more efficient than what you’d get from other providers, and this ensures your torrenting, streaming, browsing or downloading always goes on uninterrupted.
They have servers based in Canada, Germany, the US, UK, and Australia, as well as a 30-day money-back guarantee that you can lean back on in case their speeds still aren’t fast enough to impress you.
Their flexible pricing is well worked out to ensure that everybody enjoys the same type of features, with the only difference being the intervals of payment.
If you’re looking for an affordable provider that will guarantee you seamless connections and a way through all those geo-restricted sites, BulletVPN is one service provider you can count on.
Pros
- Ultra-fast speeds for HD streaming.
- Free Smart DNS feature.
- 30-day money-back guarantee.
- No logs policy.
- Allows three simultaneous connections.
- 24/7 Customer support.
- Unlimited bandwidth.
- IKEv1, IKEv2, OpenVPN, PPTP protocols.
- Unlimited server switching.
Cons
- No free trial period.
- Small server network.
IPVanish
A perfect bare-bones alternative that suits your most essential security needs, and meets the threshold in terms of a favorable connectivity speed is what you get once you sign up with IPVanish.
Priced at $11.99 a month, their direct approach to providing what most users would call the “bare necessities” has earned them a very loyal customer base.
Each user gets to enjoy unlimited bandwidth, with the allowance to connect up to ten devices under the same subscription account. On the flip side, users who want access to the likes of Netflix and Hulu, or any service that imposes VPN block, IPVanish isn’t that grand in the territory.
As reliable as it is, the VPN hasn’t been able to circumvent this issue yet, but we do have high hopes for it in the near future.
Their trial period is also quite shorter than most, running for only a week before you have to decide whether the service is for you or not. If you’re interested in trying them out, you’re welcome to have a look at their features and conditions here.
Pros
- Apps for Windows, Mac OS, Android, Fire TV, and iOS.
- 256-bit AES encryption.
- SOCKS5 web proxy.
- Supports IKEv2, OpenVPN, and L2TP/IPsec VPN protocols.
- 10 simultaneous connections per account.
- 24/7 customer support.
- 1,300+ VPN servers in 75+ locations.
- Unlimited bandwidth.
- Zero traffic logs.
Cons
- Can’t unblock Netflix.
- 7-day money-back option.
HideMyAss
We’ll wind up our list with HideMyAss, another reputable VPN provider that we would ask our readers to turn to as their last resort. This is generally because we don’t want anyone getting frustrated on our account since their connections speeds really leave a lot to be desired.
Streaming live games through your NBA League Pass subscription might leave you agitated because of the constant freezes, but bear in mind that this only happens some of the time, and is not the constant state of things with a HideMyAss subscription.
There also isn’t a lot to talk about regarding the customer support handling done by their technical team. Despite having a live chat platform, they really take a long while to respond.
Pros
- 5 connections at once.
- 30-days refund policy.
- Automatic kill switch.
- 256-bit AES encryption.
- Lightning Connect (Picks the fastest server).
- 24/7 live chat support.
- IPv4 and IPv6 leak protection.
- 1000+ server in 190 countries.
Cons
- Expensive monthly plan.
- Some servers didn’t unblock Netflix.
- Questionable logging.
VPN Alternative? Enter Smart DNS Proxy
If you’ve gone through what the VPN market has to offer and still found that your requirements haven’t been met, then perhaps a Smart DNS solution could help you out. The most important thing to note about this option is that your traffic doesn’t get encrypted, and your IP address doesn’t get hidden. If you’re still OK with these conditions, then here’s what you should expect:
- A Smart DNS proxy service is susceptible to both DNS hijacking and transparent proxies.
- The service allows you to work around any restrictions set up for subscriptions such as NHL.TV, NFL Game Pass, MLB.tv and NBA League Pass Blackouts.
- You won’t be able to alter/choose another location.
- Smart DNS works on your PS3, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV Stick, Mac, iPhone, Android, Wii, Xbox, and Smart TV.
- You’ll only get access to a limited number of blocked websites.
The one Smart DNS service we’d recommend for all who want to give it a try would be Unlocator. It’s one of the few Smart DNS proxies which allow users to enjoy their NBA League Pass subscription, and also offer a 7-day free trial for them to test out their service.
Best VPN for NBA League Pass – Conclusion
By now you have an idea of the kind of service to go for to enjoy your NBA games without any worries whatsoever. If you do follow through with any of the providers we’ve listed, we’d be glad to hear about your experience or any problem you might have that we could help sort out. Just leave us a message in the comment box below.