Sky Sports is perfect for any hardcore sports fan. It’s just a shame you can’t watch it outside the UK and ROI. Well, you can, but you have to put up with annoying limitations – like only being able to stream content up to 37 days before you have to watch Sky Sports in the UK or ROI again.
So like anyone else, you googled a solution, and found out you can unblock Sky Sports with a VPN. You subscribed to a service, downloaded and installed an app, ran it, connected to a server, and whoops, what’s this? You still can’t unblock Sky Sports content!
What’s Going on?
Unfortunately, there are some issues that can interfere with your VPN connection, causing Sky’s site to detect your real geo-location. Here’s a list of the most common problems, along with solutions for each one of them:
1. Sky Blocked Your VPN
Let’s start with the most likely problem. Contrary to popular belief, not all VPNs can unblock Sky Sports. The site can actually detect some VPN IPs and block them.
How?
It’s hard to say, but they might work with companies that provide them with proxy and VPN IP databases (like MaxMind or IP2Location, for example). Once they have that information, they use a script to automatically detect VPN and proxy IPs and block them.
Unfortunately, not every VPN on the market can keep up with that kind of IP detection and blocking. To bypass it, they need to refresh their IP addresses very often.
SOLUTION
Try connecting to a different VPN server in the same region (UK and ROI). Maybe you’re lucky and Sky only blacklisted one server IP address.
If that doesn’t work, contact your provider’s support team to see how long it will take them to unblock the site.
If they don’t respond, or if it takes them too long to fix the problem, consider getting a refund and switching to a VPN that actually unblocks Sky Sports. We recommend you check out these VPNs to find a really good service. All the VPNs on that list were thoroughly tested by ProPrivacy, and found to be able to unblock Sky’s platform without any problems.
2. Your OS’ Time and Date Are Giving You Away
Surprisingly enough, the difference between your operating system’s time and date and the time zone assigned to the VPN server’s IP address can result in problems with unblocking Sky Sports.
It’s probably because on top of IP detection and blocking, Sky also blocks users from specific time zones. So even if you visit the site with a British IP address, the platform will still block your access because your system’s time zone is linked to a different geo-location (for example, the US or India).
SOLUTION
It’s pretty obvious – change your system’s time and date so that they reflect the UK/ROI’s time zone.
If you’re a Windows 10 user, here’s how to do it:
- Press Win + I, and click Time & Language.
- In the Date & Time section, disable Set time automatically and Set time zone automatically.
- From the Time zone dropdown menu, pick (UTC+00:00) Dublin, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London.
- Re-enable Set time automatically, and you’re done.
- Run your VPN, connect to a server in the UK or ROI, and try unblocking Sky Sports.
3. Your System Settings Are a Problem
Sometimes, changing the date and time isn’t enough because Sky’s platform also checks your system’s language settings through browser fingerprinting. If it doesn’t detect English, it might assume you’re from a different country.
SOLUTION
Change your operating system’s language to English – preferably the United Kingdom or Ireland option.
To do that on Windows 10, follow these steps:
- Press Win + I, click Time & Language, and select Language on the left.
- Under Windows display language, pick English (United Kingdom) or English (Ireland).
- If it’s not available, click Add a language under Preferred languages.
- Search for it by name, and hit Next. Then, click Install.
- When the process is done, you can pick English (United Kingdom) or English (Ireland) under the Windows display language section.
- Run the VPN and try to unblock Sky Sports.
4. Your Browser Doesn’t Support Microsoft Silverlight
Apparently using a browser that doesn’t support Microsoft Silverlight (like Chrome and Firefox) can stop your VPN from unblocking Sky’s platform.
SOLUTION
This might not sound ideal, but you’ll have to try unblocking Sky Sports on a browser that still supports Microsoft Silverlight.
If you’re on macOS, use Safari. And if you’re on Windows 10, use Internet Explorer.
Why Internet Explorer and not Microsoft Edge?
Because Edge doesn’t support Microsoft Silverlight either.
5. Tracking Cookies Are Getting in the Way
There’s a chance Sky’s platform checks your browser’s tracking cookies when you connect to it. If it detects cookies from different geo-locations, it will likely assume you’re using a VPN.
SOLUTION
Clear your browser’s cookies before trying to unblock Sky Sports. Consider using incognito mode too since it should keep you safe from some tracking cookies while using Sky’s site.
6. Your Android Device Is Rooted
Having a rooted Android device is just like having a jailbroken iPhone. And apparently Sky’s platform has a problem with rooted devices. Basically, it’s not supported, so using a VPN on them to unblock the site won’t work.
SOLUTION
You basically have two options:
- Try to hide the root on your Android device. Here’s a useful guide showing you some ways to do it.
- Try to unroot your Android device. It’s actually possible to do that – just try the methods outlined in this article.
How Else Can You Make VPNs Work with Sky Sports?
Are there any other tips we didn’t mention? If yes, please tell us about them in the comments.
Also, if you know how else Sky’s platform might detect VPN usage, please let us know.