Why are VPNs the latest must-have for sports fans?

From football and basketball all the way to pickleball and breakdancing, whatever your game, a VPN is a must-have if you're a sports fan. Of course, nothing beats being there live, but having the perfect set-up at home comes a close second.

Summer is often the peak of the sports calendar and with the likes of the Olympics and the U.S. Open still to come, there's plenty to look forward to. Using one of the best VPNs is incredibly useful for sports lovers. You could describe them as your perfect teammate, here's why.

Never miss a moment

VPNs are incredibly easy to use, and what's better, they set you up to catch every game, meet or match up, wherever you are.

If you're out of the country on work or vacation, sports coverage can change locally (it's not so easy to watch the NFL in Europe for example). A VPN is a perfect tool to stay up-to-date with your team. After all, it's only live once.

By spoofing your IP address VPNs allow you to access the internet as if you were in almost any corner of the globe. Simply connect to a server back home via a streaming VPN and watch your regular sports channels and services like normal, wherever you are. All that's missing is your favorite chair.

Try something new

The opposite theory also applies, you can use a VPN to try something new even when at home. Select a server in another region and try some of the region-specific free streaming services.

Make sure to read the terms and conditions first, of course (for example if you want to watch BBC iPlayer , you'll need a UK TV Licence) but this could be a great way to find your next sports obsession. How do you know you don't adore watching cricket if you've never tried it for instance? It's a great big world, and there's a lot of sport happening out there.

In between matches, you can even use a VPN to unlock region-specific content on streaming services like Netflix. Maybe you're a K-drama super fan waiting to happen?

Stay safe out there

In the sports world protecting yourself involves donning various pads and guards, and it's good to think about using a VPN the same way.

The most dangerous thing that most people do online every day is connect to public Wi-Fi. Getting a free internet connection to stream the game (or even just find out the latest news) is fantastic, but not if it compromises all of your data. Hackers have been known to prowl public networks and even create their own hotspots with names like "Free public Wi-Fi" to trick innocent users out of their private data.

Even if you do connect to one of these with a VPN enabled, then it shouldn't be a problem as the end-to-end encryption of a VPN renders the data pretty much unreadable. Hackers will move on to easier targets.

Which VPN is best for sports fans?

Well, sports fans will want a VPN with strong streaming performance above all else. In that case, you'll probably want to choose one of NordVPN, Surfshark, or ExpressVPN. Each of these three has no problem unblocking pretty much every streaming service.

Of the three, if you're just confirmed with streaming then Surfshark would probably be the best value proposition. It's the fastest VPN we've tested and much cheaper than its rivals.

Surfshark – the best cheap streaming VPN
Surfshark is a gold-medal-winning VPN for sports fans. Faster than Usain Bolt, it's a top performer when it comes to unblocking streaming services and fantastic value as well. Prices start at just $2.19 per month. View Deal