There’s an odd rule in the UK that prevents any live football being shown on TV between 3pm-5pm on a Saturday.
This article will show you how you can get around this ban and watch EVERY Premier League game.
Best of all, the workaround will work all season and costs less than a Sky Sports and/or BT Sport subscription. Continue reading to find out how to watch 3pm kickoffs in the UK.
See also:
- How to watch FuboTV outside the US: It’s EASY! (September 2021)
- ExpressVPN not working with BT Sport? Try these EASY fixes! (September 2021)
How to watch 3pm kick-offs: Quick guide
To watch 3pm matches in the UK you need to gain access to FuboTV which is a streaming service based in the US and Canada.
More specifically, you need to gain access to the Canadian version of FuboTV which will give you access to all 380 Premier League matches.
To get Canadian FuboTV follow these simple steps:
Install the VPN app
Open the VPN app and connect to a server in Canada
Go to fubo.tv
Sign up for a 7-day free trial (use a MasterCard or PayPal and enter a fake US Zip Code)
Watch 3PM Premier League kickoffs
Note: Fubo.tv is an online cable subscription. So you’re getting much more than just access to the Premier League stream. Sign up to Fubo.tv and you’re getting access to the EPL, Champions League, La Liga, Ligue 1, MLS, NFL, MLB, PGA Tour and heaps more. Plus TV shows and films.
Why can’t I watch 3pm games in the UK?
The rationale behind the Saturday 3pm football bans makes sense. It’s a rule that’s been put in place by the FA to encourage fans to support their local teams rather than staying in to watch a top-flight game on TV at 3pm.
The direct (or indirect) result is that all four Football leagues in the UK have higher attendances than anywhere else in Europe. And not just by a little bit. By a huge margin.
How to watch 3pm Premier League kickoffs in the UK?
If you want to watch 3pm Premier League games in the UK, you’re going to need two things.
1. A really good VPN
The first thing you need to do is spoof your internet connection to make it appear as if you’re in Canada.
To do this you need a good VPN.
If you want the very best VPN speeds, I suggest you spend a couple of extra quid and get ExpressVPN ($6.67/month). ExpressVPN is a premium VPN service that delivers unrivalled speeds and world-class privacy.
If you want a simple VPN that does the job with minimal fuss, we recommend getting Private Internet Access ($2.85/month).
2. An overseas sports subscription
The next thing you need is a subscription to an overseas sports package.
We recommend using the Canadian version of the online cable TV service Fubo.tv. It works with non-US/Canadian credit cards, and gives you access to full Cable as well. Click here for a Fubo.tv 7-day FREE trial (then £30/month)
With these two things, you’ll be able to stream EVERY Premier League Fixture, including 3pm games on a Saturday. And the monthly price of a VPN (£3-£5/month) + overseas subscription (£10-£30) is still much cheaper than a single subscription to Sky Sports and/or BT Sport.
Will any VPN work?
Because FuboTV is an American streaming service for US and Canada-based customers, it tries to block VPNs from accessing its service. It does this to protect itself from potential copyright and licensing breaches that VPNs may cause.
For the most part, Fubo is quite good at blocking VPNs. It constantly monitors the IP addresses that connect to its service. If it sees an abnormal number of customers connecting via the same IP address, it knows it’s a VPN and blocks it. These blocks can be difficult for VPNs to get around, especially free VPNs.
The good news is, there are VPNs out there that have the infrastructure to ensure they’re constantly compatible with Fubo. They have measures in place so that there’s always an IP address for you to use when trying to watch 3PM kickoffs in the UK.
The best in the business are ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) or Private Internet Access ($2.03/month). But you can take a look at the list below to find one that suits your needs.
Which VPN should I use?
1. ExpressVPN 🥇
Why You Should Use ExpressVPN? It’s the fastest and MOST reliable VPN of 2022
Pros
- ✅ Fast servers
- ✅ Thousands of IP addresses
- ✅ 10-simultaneous connections
- ✅ 24/7 Live Chat
- ✅ Easy-to-use app
- ✅ 30-day money-back guarantee
Cons
- ❌ Expensive
Special Offer for you!
Get 3 extra months free when you sign up for a 12-month ExpressVPN plan. That’s 15 months in total for the price of 12.
Number of servers: 3,000+ | Speed: >80% | Bandwidth: Unlimited | IP locations: 160 in 94 countries | Devices supported: 5 | Live chat: Yes | 30-day money-back guarantee: Yes
- $6.66/month for 15 months
- $9.99/month for 6 months
- $12.95/month for 1 month
ExpressVPN ($6.66/month) is still the best VPN. And importantly, it ALWAYS has servers that are open with major streaming sites such as Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Hulu, Disney+, HBO Max, Paramount+, Amazon Prime Video, etc.
ExpressVPN is usually very good at playing Cat and Mouse with online streaming sites. Meaning, whenever one of its servers is blacklisted it creates a new one – giving its users a constant stream of servers that aren’t blocked. Needless to say, this is a valuable attribute if you’re looking for a VPN to unblock streaming sites.
Its app is easy-to-use and free to download on pretty much any device you can think of. Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, FireStick, Android TV, Roku, PS4, Xbox, Linux, even Apple TV (with a workaround). It’s got it all covered.
The app is another main reason this VPN is so good at unblocking TV streaming sites (that claim they block VPNs) is that its software takes a pragmatic approach to user management. While other VPNs tempt customers by promising them access to hundreds/thousands of servers in multiple countries, ExpressVPN does things differently.
With ExpressVPN you only have a handful of server locations to choose from. Once you select your location the app takes care of the rest. Assigning you to the fastest available server that’s not oversubscribed. This simple technique is so important, as it keeps ExpressVPN’s servers operating at lightning-fast speeds and prevents its IPs from getting blacklisted for “abnormal” usage in the first place.
Check out our full ExpressVPN review.
Special Offer for you
(30-day money-back guarantee)
2. Private Internet Access 🥈
The BEST low-cost VPN for streaming!
Pros
- ✅ Fast and reliable servers
- ✅ Thousands of IP addresses
- ✅ 10-simultaneous connections
- ✅ 24/7 Live Chat
- ✅ 30-day money-back guarantee
Cons
- ❌ Only 48 server locations
Special Offer for you!
Sign up for a 3-year plan with Private Internet Access and save 83% + 3 months free. That works out at $2.03/month.
Number of servers: 25,000+ | Speed: >75% | Bandwidth: Unlimited | IP locations: 70 in 74 countries | Devices supported: 10 | Live chat: Yes | 30-day money-back guarantee: Yes
- $2.03/month for 3 years
- $7.50/month for 6 months
- $11.99/month for 1 month
Private Internet Access is one of the leading no-log VPN services with over 1-million paying customers.
This VPN is one of the best in the industry at beating streaming sites’ VPN bans. It provides reliable connections with US Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Hulu, HBO Max, Disney+ Amazon Prime Video, etc. It also allows 10 simultaneous devices to be connected to its servers at the same time, so you can share the account with your close friends.
If – for whatever reason – you’re not happy with Private Internet Access, there’s a 24/7 live chat support available to assist you with your problem. PIA also offers the industry-standard 30-day money-back guarantee.
From my tests (from New Zealand) I was able to get download speeds of 70 Mbps while connected to a UK server using the Private Internet Access VPN (my non-VPN speed is 100 Mbps).
Special Offer – Save 83%
(30-day money-back guarantee)
3. NordVPN 🥉
A very quick and trustworthy VPN
Pros
- ✅ Fast servers
- ✅ No logs
- ✅ Thousands of IP addresses
- ✅ 6-simultaneous connections
- ✅ 30-day money-back guarantee
- ✅ Easy-to-use app
Cons
- ❌ No refunds for purchases from iTunes/App store
Special Offer for you!
Sign up for a 3-year plan with Private Internet Access and save 83% + 3 months free. That works out at $2.03/month.
Number of servers: 5,000+ | Speeds: >80% | Bandwidth: Unlimited | IP locations: 62 countries | Devices supported: 6 | Live chat: Yes | 30-day money-back guarantee: Yes
- $3.49/month for 2 years
- $6.99/month for 1 year
- $11.95/month for 1 month
NordVPN is the most widely-used VPN in the world. And it’s easy to see why. It’s a polished app that delivers fast connections (more on this later) to a massive network of VPN servers.
It’s the most reliable at unblocking popular streaming services too – US Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, BBC iPlayer, HBO Max, Amazon Prime Video, etc. This is because NordVPN hired a full-time technical team (that’s responsible for monitoring its servers’ connections with popular TV streaming services) and has been aggressively investing in its network of IP addresses in key locations.
Another interesting thing to note is that NordVPN is an industry leader in its development of Nordlynx technology. Nordlynx is built using the WireGuard, a new VPN tunneling protocol designed to outperform current standards (OpenVPN and IPSec). The benefits, according to NordVPN, are dramatically faster transfer speeds while connected to a VPN. My tests – New Zealand to London – confirm that Nordlynx is currently the fastest VPN on the market. However, the difference isn’t dramatic, a few Mbps is all.
SPECIAL OFFER – SAVE 70%!
(30-day money-back guarantee)
4. Ivacy
A very quick and trustworthy VPN
Pros
- ✅ Fast servers
- ✅ Thousands of IP addresses
- ✅ Dedicated streaming servers
- ✅ 5-simultaneous connections
- ✅ 30-day money-back guarantee
- ✅ 24/7 Live Chat
Cons
- ❌ Only 5 devices
- ❌ Sometimes runs slow
- ❌ Occasionally block by streaming sites for several days
Special Offer for you!
Sign up for Ivacy and enjoy a 7-day trial with no strings attached
Number of servers: 1,000+ | Speed: >65% | Bandwidth: Unlimited | IP locations: 275 in 100 countries | Devices supported: 5 | Live chat: Yes | 30-day money-back guarantee: Yes
- $1.16/month for 5 years
- $3.50/month for 1 year
- $9.99/month for 1 month
If you’re looking for an excellent VPN, with an even better price tag, Ivacy ($1.16/month) is a great option.
This VPN has all the features you need to stream BBC iPlayer, in HD, from any country in the world. I’ve been testing the app recently on Mac, PC, Android, iOS and FireStick and the results have been impressive – unlocking BBC iPlayer, US Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, HBO Max, Amazon Prime Video, etc. with ease.
The Ivacy app is a little different in regards to its UX (user experience). Instead of just selecting a UK server, you need to select the specific BBC iPlayer server. Don’t worry, this isn’t a bad thing – by connecting to a dedicated BBC iPlayer server, it simply means that you’re connecting to an IP address that Ivacy knows works with BBC iPlayer.
For an extra $1.99/month (£1.74) you can add-on a dedicated IP. This will buy you sole access to an IP address in a country of your choice, meaning you won’t have to share your IP (and speeds) with any other use. I don’t recommend this though, using the regular Ivacy servers is enough 95 per cent of the time.
Special Offer – 7-day FREE trial!
(30-day money-back guarantee)
5. CyberGhost
A very quick and trustworthy VPN
Pros
- ✅ 1-day free trial
- ✅ Reliable servers
- ✅ Thousands of IP addresses
- ✅ 7-simultaneous connections
- ✅ 30-day money-back guarantee
- ✅ Easy-to-use app
Cons
- ❌ Expensive
- ❌ Average speed scores
SPECIAL OFFER – 1-DAY FREE TRIAL
Take advantage of CyberGhost’s 1-day FREE TRIAL!
Number of servers: 1,000+ | Speed: >65% | Bandwidth: Unlimited | IP locations: 275 in 100 countries | Devices supported: 5 | Live chat: Yes | 30-day money-back guarantee: Yes
- $2.75/month for 3 years
- $3.69/month for 2 years
- $5.99/month for 1 year
- $12.99/month for 1 month
CyberGhost is one of the more established VPNs on the market. It has a well-established, and well-tested global network of servers that perform well.
From my tests over the past several months, CyberGhost has no trouble at unblocking major streaming services – US Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Hulu, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max etc. This VPN performed well at maintaining download speeds, well above 65 per cent of my regular (non VPN) ISP speed.
That said, there’s nothing really unique about the service. Which forces you to look at its price-point. And there’s nothing special here. Its short-term $12.99/month price tag puts is well above the industry average of $10.10/month. Similarly, its long-term $2.75/month for 3 years deal isn’t much of a “deal” either.
Oddly, CyberGhost’s most unique feature is its a 1-day, no obligations, free trial. This is an appealing offer to customers who are new to VPNs. However, it’s important to remember that most reputable VPNs will offer customers a 30-day money-back guarantee, so try not to be too seduced by the offer.
SPECIAL OFFER – 1-DAY FREE TRIAL
(30-day money-back guarantee)
How to download the fuboTV app outside the US
If you’re outside the US, you won’t be able to find the fuboTV app on the Apple or Google app stores.
Below is a step-by-step guide on how to get around this for both Apple and Google devices:
Apple
- Download ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) and connect to a US server
- Create a new iCloud account for free
- The reason we recommend creating a new iCloud account is so you can have two different accounts in two different locations. For example, I have my iCloud account I use every day, set to my home country, and I have my other iCloud account based in the US. That way, I can switch between them when I need to without having to change the location of my main account.
- Login to your new iCloud account
- Once you’ve created a separate iCloud account, you need to set its location to the US. Go into settings, log out of your main account (if you’re still logged in) and log in to your new account.
- Open your account
- If you go into settings on your Apple device, your account name will be at the top of the screen. Click that to open your account settings.
- Select Media and Purchases
- Select View Account
- Once you click View Account, this will prompt you to enter your password. When this is done, you’ll be taken to a new page.
- Tap Country/Region and select the US
- When you open Country/Region, you’ll see “Change Country or Region.” Click on this and select the US.
- Go to the App Store and Download fuboTV
- Once you’ve changed your region to the US, make sure you’re still connected to a US server on ExpressVPN ($6.67/month). Now you’ll have access to the US version of the Apple App Store. From here, you’ll be able to find the fuboTV app. Download it.
Android
- Create a new Google Play account and login to it on the Google Play store
- Download and install ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) on your Android phone
- Connect to a US server on ExpressVPN ($6.67/month)
- Open up your Google Play Account
- Click Settings
- Click General
- Click account and device preferences
- Change your location to the US
- Put in your credit card details
- Close Google Play and open it again (you should be on the US version of the Google Play Store)
- Download and install the fuboTV app
Why can’t I watch 3pm kickoffs in the UK: Continued…
The FA and Premier League won’t let UK broadcasters show Saturday 3 pm games because it wants to encourage fans to actually buy tickets and go to matches. Which is fair enough. However, outside of the UK is a different story. If you’re watching in the USA, Ireland, Australia – pretty much anywhere apart from the UK – you’ll be able to watch any Premier League fixture you want.
Until recently, the only way to watch a foreign TV channel was to be in front of a screen in that country. However, most networks now make their channels available to customers over the internet and this is how this tutorial works.
By signing up for a VPN, you can successfully spoof your computer’s location. Do this in a country like the USA – where the Premier League broadcasts 3 pm games – and the only the only remaining hurdle is signing up to a TV.
FuboTV.com is exactly that. You can register with a PayPal or UK credit card (we used MasterCard) for $39.99/month (£22.50) you get access to every Live Premier League game via the broadcaster’s website. That’s not all. Your subscription includes Champions League, Europa League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Ligue 1, Serie A, The FA Cup… and a tonne of other leagues/matches from around the world.
Fubo.TV also includes comprehensive coverage of Rugby; NBA; NHL; MLB; Tennis; Golf; Cycling; Racing; MMA and a lot more.
Read next: How to watch BT Sport abroad.
