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Traveling abroad when your team plays? Here’s how to watch live sports from another country
Don’t miss the big game while you’re away. Discover how to watch live sports from another country with streaming services, local broadcasters and more.
It’s the season of two things: travel and sports.
If you love both, you’ll probably encounter the situation where you’re abroad when your team plays a big match. And naturally, you won’t want to miss out.
Thankfully, being overseas doesn’t mean you can’t catch the game. There are several straightforward, legitimate ways to watch from abroad, and this article lays them out so you can pick the one that best fits your trip.
First, find out who’s showing the game where you’re going
Many people assume they can watch sports from abroad with the same service they use at home. Then they try to connect right before the match, only to find out access is blocked.
That’s because broadcast rights are sold country by country, so the service that shows your team at home may not have legal rights to show it in the country you’re visiting. Thus, it’s common to have to use a different broadcaster or streaming service than usual.
Of course, you need to know which service will work beforehand; it’s not something you want to be googling 2 minutes before kickoff. So research this before you travel.
Some sporting events are easier to watch abroad than others. In general, the big sporting events that draw a global audience, such as major finals or tournaments, tend to be shown widely.
For example, the UK Premier League has concluded deals with many local broadcasters, through which you can watch the games while abroad. But for regular-season or local-league games, it can be much harder to find a broadcasting service that works where you are.
If you can’t find any local broadcasters showing the game, consider the other options outlined below.
| How to watch | Best for | Keep in mind |
|---|---|---|
| Home streaming app or league pass | Following the service you already use | Access can depend on your home country’s rules and the service’s terms |
| Local free-to-air or pay TV | Big global events shown widely | Commentary and channel will be in the local language |
| Sports bar or public screening | Atmosphere with no setup | Availability depends on the venue and the local time zone |
Take your home streaming with you
Some streaming services let their subscribers watch on the go, wherever they are in the world. You can log in and access your home subscription, but you’ll be limited to free content and content with worldwide broadcasting rights.
Therefore, even if you can access your subscription, there is no guarantee that what you want to watch will be available. So look up which broadcasting rights your usual streaming service has for the country you’re visiting.
If you live in the EU and are traveling to another EU country, you shouldn’t encounter any problems. Due to EU portability rules, paid online content subscriptions remain accessible throughout the EU.
Then, in the US, some major sporting leagues, such as the NBA, offer international streaming passes specifically for viewers outside their home broadcast markets. This allows you to watch live games and replays wherever you are in the world (with a few country exceptions).
Whether you plan to use your usual streaming service or a new one, set up the apps for travel. Download the app, log in, and test that live streaming works before you leave your home country.
What about using a VPN?
Because broadcasting rights vary by sport, country, season, and service, a game available at home may be blocked in the country you’re visiting. If this happens, consider using a VPN.
A VPN (virtual private network) routes your internet connection through a server in another country. This can make it appear to a website or streaming service that you’re browsing from that location rather than your actual one.
Therefore, some travelers use VPNs to access their usual home-country sports stream while abroad. But there’s an important catch: many major streaming platforms and sports services actively detect and block VPN connections.
So while a VPN might work for some games, it’s not a reliable strategy. Even if you can connect initially, the stream could stop working once the service detects the VPN.
Plus, bypassing a service’s location settings often violates its terms of use. So a VPN should be a last resort if none of the other options in this article work.
Or watch it like a local
In many destinations, the easiest and most enjoyable way to watch a sports event is to head to the nearest bar.
There are sports bars in all major cities and towns that broadcast live games via the local broadcaster. They might not show small local league games, but they tend to stream all major sporting events.
- Find a bar: Search for local sports bars or other venues that show sports on Google Maps.
- Find out if your game is being shown: Many bars advertise the games they are showing on their social media pages or on a board outside the bar. You can also check local sports listings to get an idea of what’s being shown while you’re there.
- Check if you need to make a reservation: For major league games like finals, tables can fill up hours before kickoff.
Watching from a bar is not only the most low-effort option, but it’s usually the most memorable, as you watch the game like a local. Watching your team with a crowd of passionate local fans is an experience you simply can’t recreate from your hotel room.
Get the timing and your connection right
Once you’ve figured out the how, think about the when by converting the match time to your local time zone.
This catches many travelers out, as the game might be on at 6 pm back home, but at 3 am where you currently are. Online time zone conversion tools will help you quickly do the math. If watching live isn’t practical, check whether a replay option is available.
Finally, if you’re watching from your accommodation, make sure you’ve got enough data to stream the event. The data usage for streaming live content can reach 22.5 GB per hour, so hotel or public Wi-Fi might not be strong enough.
To avoid constant buffering or losing connection at the worst moment, sort out a stable mobile data connection before your trip. A travel eSIM with unlimited data is the most reliable route.
Stay connected for every match with Holafly
Half the battle with watching sport abroad is having a connection that does not drop at the decisive moment. A Holafly eSIM keeps you online with unlimited data, 5G speeds, and 24/7 customer support, so you can stream the game, check the score, or follow live commentary without hunting for Wi-Fi. Holafly Plans covers 160+ destinations worldwide with a single eSIM, which is handy if your team’s season overlaps with more than one stop on your trip.
What’s more, every Holafly eSIM includes Always On: 1 GB of monthly backup data at no additional cost. It activates automatically as long as the eSIM stays installed on your device, renews every month, and works in 150+ destinations. So if your main plan runs low right as extra time kicks off, Always On keeps you connected long enough to see how it ends. Reliable, easy to use, and there when plans change.
Unlimited data. Peace of mind.
Make sure you have travel data that's there when you need it most.
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Hi, I'm Mika, a South Korean writer living in the US. I cover travel and live events, focusing on the practical stuff that makes your trip smoother, whether you're navigating a new city or heading to a major international event.I'm also the founder of Search SEOul, South Korea's leading SEO conference, bringing together search marketing experts and speakers from around the world.
