Fans are paying more for Sky and TNT, getting hit by 3pm blackouts, and using VPNs because the system is clearly broken.
Let’s be honest. The cost of living is bad enough without your TV subscriptions actively trying to finish you off.
Sky. TNT Sports. Netflix. Disney Plus. Amazon Prime. It feels like every company got together and decided now was the perfect time to crank prices up again. And again. And probably again next year.
For football fans, it’s even worse. You can be paying hundreds a year and still hit the Premier League’s 3pm blackout, where matches being played in your own country are completely unavailable. You’re paying more, but somehow getting less.
If you’ve noticed more people talking about VPNs for streaming lately, this is why.
There was a time when you paid one bill and watched TV. That was it. Now a Sky subscription can cost more than a decent night out, TNT Sports creeps up year after year, and streaming services quietly add a few extra pounds whenever they feel like it.
On their own, each bill doesn’t look too bad. Put them together and they quietly drain your bank account while you’re still sitting through adverts. That’s before you even get to blackout rules telling you what you’re not allowed to watch.
Fans are clocking it. And instead of cancelling everything and staring at the wall for entertainment, people are starting to look for smarter options.
The Premier League’s 3pm blackout was meant to protect lower-league attendance. Whether it still does that in 2026 is another argument entirely. What fans actually experience is much simpler. Matches are being played. They’re being broadcast elsewhere. But UK viewers are blocked.
You can pay for Sky. You can pay for TNT. And still be told the game isn’t available.
That frustration is exactly why VPNs have exploded in popularity among sports fans.
A VPN, or Virtual Private Network, isn’t some complicated hacker tool. It simply gives you more privacy online and allows you to appear as if you’re accessing the internet from another country. That matters because streaming services don’t treat every country the same. Different regions get different coverage, different matches, and sometimes very different pricing.
For fans dealing with blackout rules and ever-rising subscriptions, VPNs offer flexibility. You’re no longer completely locked into whatever your local broadcasters decide you’re allowed to see.
This is where services like Surfshark keep coming up in conversation. Not because they’re flashy, but because they work. It’s fast enough for live sport, works across phones, laptops, tablets and smart TVs, and lets you use multiple devices on one account without constantly logging in and out. It’s also cheaper than many of the bigger names, which matters when you’re already fed up with subscription creep.
If you’re travelling, living abroad, or just tired of blackout restrictions dictating your weekends, this is the kind of tool fans are quietly using to take some control back. You can see what Surfshark offers here if you want to understand why it keeps coming up in these conversations.
People often ask whether using a VPN is actually legal. In most countries, including the UK, it is. Where things get slightly grey is how streaming platforms feel about accessing content from different regions. You’re not committing a crime, but some services don’t love it. The sensible approach is using VPNs for privacy, security, and accessing international content, not trying to dodge subscriptions entirely or do anything reckless.
The bigger point is this. Fans are tired. Tired of Sky subscription costs, tired of TNT price hikes, tired of paying more while being shown less, especially during 3pm blackouts. A VPN like Surfshark doesn’t magically fix everything, but it does give you more control and more choice at a time when broadcasters seem determined to give you neither.
At this point, it’s less about tech and more about not feeling ripped off every month. If you want to see what Surfshark looks like in practice, you can check it out here.
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