How to bypass NBA League Pass blackouts in 2026

League Pass is the NBA’s streaming service for out-of-market games, and in the US, it only shows games that aren’t on national television and don’t involve your local team. Getting blackout error messages when you’re already paying for the NBA League Pass is frustrating, and this 2026–27 season, it will happen more often.

This is because the NBA’s new TV deals moved about 240 regular-season games to ABC, ESPN, NBC, Peacock, NBCSN, and Prime Video, which means League Pass can’t show those games live in the US. The playoffs are national-only, too, so you can’t watch any of them live on League Pass either.

The reason you can’t see a game is where you are, as League Pass checks your location and then blocks games depending on it. A VPN changes the location League Pass sees, which is why many fans use one. In this guide, I explain how NBA League Pass blackouts work, how a VPN gets around them, and what it ultimately costs to watch all NBA games this season.

NBA League Pass blackouts explained

In the US, League Pass shows out-of-market regular-season games that aren’t on national TV. That translates to any game that isn’t on ABC, ESPN, NBC, Peacock, NBCSN, or Prime Video, and isn’t your own local team. For example, if you live in Chicago, you’ll be able to watch Celtics, Lakers, or Nuggets games live but only on nights they aren’t on national TV. Seems like a lot to keep track of just to watch a game.

Here’s a quick overview of the two kinds of blackouts you’ll come across.

Blackout type	What it includes	When replays are available
National games	Any game on ABC, ESPN, NBC, Peacock, NBCSN, or Prime Video is blocked live for everyone in the US. This season that’s nearly 240 games, plus the playoffs, the Finals, the NBA Cup semifinals and final, and All-Star Weekend.	6:00AM ET the next day
Local games	Your local team’s games are blocked in its home area because a regional channel or team streaming service has the rights. You can watch them through that provider.	3 days after the game

In Canada, only national games are blocked. Outside the US and Canada, League Pass shows every game live. Here’s a quick overview of NBA League Pass blackouts.

But more importantly, how does the NBA even know where you’re watching from? League Pass checks your device's location using your IP address or your device’s location services (if enabled). It then matches that location to a zip code to work out which teams count as local. Fortunately, the IP address part is the one that a reliable VPN helps you with.

How a VPN gets around NBA League Pass blackouts

A VPN (virtual private network) routes your internet connection through a server in another location. League Pass then sees that server's location instead of yours, so it applies the blackout rules for that place (ergo, not your local team) instead of your actual location.

So you only need to pick the right server location to bypass the blackout. Which one it will be depends on the type of blackout you’re trying to get around:

• If it’s a national blackout, connect a server outside the US and Canada. I recommend picking nearby countries like Mexico, as a closer server location means less speed loss, which matters most for live sports streaming.
• If it’s a local blackout, connect to a server in a US city outside your team's home area. Here, it’s also important to avoid the other team's home area, too. For example, if you're in Los Angeles and want to watch a Lakers vs Rockets game, neither a server in LA nor Houston will help, but one in Chicago or Denver should.

Where to watch NBA games in 2026–27 and how much it costs

The 2026–27 NBA season runs from Tuesday, October 20th, 2026, to Sunday, April 11th, 2027. No single service shows every game, so you’ll need several subscriptions if you want to catch the full season. Here’s how the games are split.

Service	What it shows	Price (US)
NBA League Pass	Out-of-market regular-season games, up to 40 a week, plus NBA TV	$16.99/month or $109.99/season
League Pass Premium	Same games, no commercials, up to 3 devices, 4-game multiview, downloads	$24.99/month or $159.99/season
Team Pass	One out-of-market team	$13.99/month
Peacock	NBC and Peacock games, including Peacock-exclusive Monday night games (also on NBCSN), NBC, Peacock, and NBCSN carry 100 games	$12.99/month (Premium)
ESPN Unlimited	ESPN and ABC games (80 games, including Christmas) and the NBA Finals on ABC	$31.99/month
Prime Video	66 regular-season games, the NBA Cup knockout rounds and championship game, the Play-In, and the Eastern Conference Finals	$8.99/month (standalone Prime Video plan)
Your local team’s service	Your home team’s non-national games	Varies by market and provider, with some games free over the air

Add it up, and the four main streaming services (League Pass, ESPN Unlimited, Peacock, and Prime Video) will cost you about $70.00 on a monthly basis, even if you get League Pass cheaper by picking the Team Pass. Add a local team service, and the total can reach $100.00/month, depending on your market. On the contrary, a VPN subscription plus League Pass comes to roughly $20.00/month, if you opt for a long-term VPN plan.

NBA League Pass blackout table: find where to watch your local team in 2026-27

Your local team's games are the ones that League Pass blocks in your home area. This year, the local picture changed: FanDuel Sports Network shut down after last season, and its 13 NBA teams moved to free local TV stations, team apps, or DAZN.

Here’s a quick reference table – find your area and likely affected teams, along with available streaming options (i.e., where to watch when these are blacked out on League Pass) and a suitable VPN server location (i.e., where to connect to watch on League Pass).

IP address location	Blacked-out NBA team(s)	Local TV/streaming provider	Recommended VPN server location outside the blackout area
Arizona	Phoenix Suns	Arizona’s Family Sports/Suns+	Nevada or Oregon
California	Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers, LA Clippers, Sacramento Kings	NBC Sports Bay Area (Peacock add-on), Spectrum SportsNet+, ClipperVision, NBC Sports California (Peacock add-on)	Oregon or Washington
Colorado	Denver Nuggets	Altitude Sports/Altitude+	Utah or Kansas
Florida	Miami Heat, Orlando Magic	WPLG Local 10/Local10+, MagicTV 27, and WFTV/DAZN	Georgia or South Carolina
Georgia	Atlanta Hawks	Peachtree Sports Network/WANF	Florida or North Carolina
Illinois	Chicago Bulls	Chicago Sports Network/CHSN app	Indiana or Wisconsin
Louisiana	New Orleans Pelicans	Gulf Coast Sports & Entertainment Network/Pelicans+	Texas or Mississippi
Massachusetts	Boston Celtics	NBC Sports Boston/Peacock add-on	New York or Pennsylvania
Michigan	Detroit Pistons	WMYD TV20/DAZN	Ohio or Indiana
Minnesota	Minnesota Timberwolves	DAZN	Iowa or Wisconsin
New York	New York Knicks, Brooklyn Nets	MSG Network/MSG+ on DAZN, YES Network/DAZN	Pennsylvania or Massachusetts
North Carolina	Charlotte Hornets	WSOC Ch. 9 and TV64/DAZN	South Carolina or Georgia
Ohio	Cleveland Cavaliers	DAZN	Pennsylvania or Michigan
Oklahoma	Oklahoma City Thunder	Thunder Gameday Network/Thunder+	Texas or Kansas
Oregon	Portland Trail Blazers	Rip City Television Network/BlazerVision	Washington or California
Pennsylvania	Philadelphia 76ers	NBC Sports Philadelphia/Peacock add-on	New Jersey or New York
Tennessee	Memphis Grizzlies	DAZN	Kentucky or Alabama
Texas	Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets, San Antonio Spurs	KFAA/WFAA/MavsTV+, Space City Home Network/SCHN+, DAZN	Oklahoma or New Mexico
Utah	Utah Jazz	KJZZ 14/Jazz+	Colorado or Nevada
Wisconsin	Milwaukee Bucks	MY24 and partner stations/Bucks+	Illinois or Minnesota
Washington, D.C.	Washington Wizards	Monumental Sports Network/Monumental+	Virginia or Pennsylvania
Toronto, Canada	Toronto Raptors	TSN	Anywhere in the US
Iowa	Bulls, Bucks, Timberwolves, Thunder, Nuggets, Grizzlies	Varies by team, see the team rows above	Oregon or New York
Nebraska	Nuggets, Thunder, Timberwolves	Varies by team, see the team rows above	Illinois or Colorado
Kansas	Thunder, Nuggets	Varies by team, see the team rows above	Missouri or Illinois
Nevada	Warriors, Kings, Lakers, Clippers, Suns	Varies by team, see the team rows above	Oregon or Washington
New Mexico	Suns, Thunder, Nuggets, Mavericks, Spurs	Varies by team, see the team rows above	Oregon or New York
Alaska	Select West Coast blackouts, depending on ZIP code	Varies by team and ZIP code	New York or Florida

More importantly, blackouts are set by ZIP code and local broadcast territory, not strictly by state borders. As such, I recommend using the NBA’s ZIP-code lookup for the definitive list of affected teams for your specific address – you can find it on the League Pass purchase page. For example, here I submitted one of the Texas zip codes, and got the exact teams affected:

Best VPNs to watch NBA League Pass blacked-out games

League Pass checks for VPNs more strictly than many streaming services, so just any VPN won’t do. To find ones that work, I tested VPN services to see whether they could beat both local and national blackouts, had plenty of US servers and countries to choose from, and kept speeds steady enough for a live game. Here are my top picks for the best VPNs for streaming sports in 2026:

1. NordVPN – my top recommendation with the fastest speeds in our in-house testing and servers in all 50 states and 225 locations worldwide
2. Surfshark – best value NBA VPN for households, with unlimited simultaneous device connections
3. Proton VPN – best privacy-focused VPN for NBA League Pass, with a solid US server network and strong security features

How to watch blackout NBA games with a VPN on different devices

The protocol is the same across all devices: you connect to the VPN first, then open League Pass. However, depending on your preferred device, you might need to follow additional steps to secure League Pass access.

Desktop devices

Whether you use Windows or macOS, this is the easiest route to bypass NBA League Pass blackouts. Here’s what you need to do:

1. Choose a VPN service – my top recommendation is NordVPN, now 75% OFF
2. Download and install the desktop app
3. Open your VPN app and connect to a server that falls outside the blackout (outside the US and Canada for national games, or a US city outside the blackout area for local ones)
4. Open a private or incognito browser window
5. Go to NBA.com, log in to League Pass, and pick the game you want to watch

Watch NBA blackout games with NordVPN

Android phone or tablet

The NBA app on Android checks your phone's GPS and IP address, so a VPN alone usually isn't enough. You need a way to hide your GPS location, too. Surfshark has this built in, and other VPNs need a separate mock-location app.

The setup takes a few minutes and involves turning on Developer Options on your phone, so the simplest fix is to watch in your phone's browser instead.

iPhone or iPad

Apple doesn't let apps override your GPS, so blacked-out games are effectively off the table in the NBA app. The workaround is to use Safari instead:

1. Connect the VPN
2. Turn off iCloud Private Relay, Safari's Hide IP Address setting, and Location Services for Safari websites
3. Go to NBA.com in Safari, log in, and request the desktop site version

Smart TV streaming devices (Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV)

If your VPN has a native app for your device (most premium VPNs do), the setup is as straightforward as with the desktop app:

1. Install the VPN app and connect to the right server
2. Clear the NBA app's cache (on Apple TV, restart the device)
3. Open the NBA app and start the game

Roku and Chromecast

You can't install a VPN on Roku, so the options are to set up the VPN on your router or to share a VPN connection from a Windows PC's hotspot.

Newer Chromecasts with Google TV can run a VPN app directly, but these setups are fiddly, so it's often easier to watch on a computer and connect it to your TV with an HDMI cable.

Still blacked out with a VPN on? Quick fixes

If League Pass blocks the game even though you’re connected to a VPN server outside the blackout area, it might be one of the common issues below. Fortunately, you can fix most of them in a few clicks.

What you see	Why it happens	What to try
Error 7027	League Pass detected the VPN server	Switch to a different server and reload in a private window
Error 3312	Your server's location is inside a blackout area	Pick a server in a different city or country
Local game blocked	The server is in your team's market or in the other team's market	Choose a city outside both teams' home areas
Real location showing	Old cookies or cached data from before you connected	Use a private window, clear the app's cache, and sign in again
Works in the browser, not the app	Apps can also check your phone's GPS	Watch in a browser, or use a VPN with GPS spoofing on Android
Video stops mid-game	The VPN server is slow or overloaded, or the connection has dropped	Try a closer or less busy server, and turn on your VPN's kill switch
Game isn't in League Pass at all	It's on a national network that League Pass doesn't carry	Outside the US and Canada, League Pass shows every game live, so pick a server there

If none of this works, contact your VPN's support team – they can often point you to a server that's currently working with League Pass.

Is it legal to use a VPN to watch NBA blackout games?

Yes, using a VPN is legal in the US, Canada, and most other countries. Bypassing a blackout is a separate question: it goes against the NBA's terms of use, even though you've paid for League Pass.

In practice, I have never seen an account closed for this. What usually happens is that League Pass detects the server and shows an error, so you switch to another one. However, the NBA could still restrict an account, so there's no guarantee.

The riskier move is subscribing to another country's lower-priced plan using a payment method that doesn't match your billing address. That's a clearer breach, and you could lose a subscription you've already paid for. Whatever you decide, read the NBA's terms of use first.

How to watch blacked-out NBA games without a VPN

If you'd rather skip the VPN entirely, you still have a few legitimate options to not miss on your local team’s games:

• Use the service that has the game. National games are on ESPN and ABC, NBC and Peacock, or Prime Video.
• Use your team's local service. Check the team table above. Many teams are now free over the air, so an antenna can save you a subscription.
• Watch the replay. National games appear on League Pass at 6:00AM ET the next day, and local games after 3 days. Just stay away from social media if you don't want spoilers.
• Listen live. League Pass live audio stays available during blackouts.
• Try a deal. Prime Video has offered League Pass as an add-on at half price for the first month, an ESPN subscription can be bundled with Disney+ and Hulu, and Team Pass is cheaper if you follow one out-of-market team.
• Double-check if your blackout is correct. If you think League Pass has the wrong location, try another browser, clear your cache, restart your router, and contact NBA support with your zip code and IP address.

Final thoughts

Paying for League Pass doesn't mean you can watch every NBA game this 2026–27 season. About 240 games are on national TV, the whole postseason is national, and your local team's games are blocked in your area.

A VPN can help get around this by changing the location League Pass sees – NordVPN worked best in my testing, doing exactly that. All that’s needed from your side is to pick a server outside the US and Canada for national games, or a US city outside both teams' markets for local ones

FAQ