The English Super League is back for another season, and this year it’s formally known as the Betfred Super League. Twelve clubs from the UK and two from France entered the competition, yet only one will come out victorious. Super League is as suspenseful and exhilarating as it can get, and here is how you can watch it online.
Where to stream the Super League online
Super League returns to TV and online streams, and fortunately, a good deal of broadcasters have partnered with the league.
In the UK
Sky Sports takes charge of broadcasting and streaming this Super League season, with two live matches per week on Thursday and Friday nights.
You can stream the games via the Sky Go app, available on desktops, mobile devices, Amazon Fire, PS3 and PS4, and Xbox One. Sky Sports, also available to download from iTunes and Google Play, is providing the updates and live text coverage.
Alternatively, NOW TV offers daily and weekly rugby passes without locking you into a contract. You can use NOW TV on desktops, mobile devices, Roku, Smart TVs, Chromecast, PS3 and PS4, and Xbox 360.
Rugby League TV, SLTV, offers on-demand streams of highlights also available via Rugby League’s official YouTube channel.
BBC One only covers the highlights on Monday evenings, with replays each Tuesday. The season play-offs are shown on BBC Two across the UK in a weekly highlights program.
As you can see, there are no free-to-air (or stream) options for the Super League fans this year, alas.
In Australia
The English Super League free-to-air broadcasts aren’t available in Australia, either. Foxtel provides complete live coverage of the 2019 season, including match replays.
Foxtel Now has a Free live TV trial without a contract lock-in or set-up fees. It bundles the Foxtel GO mobile app offering live streams of the English Super League.
In the U.S.
Fox Soccer Plus is the official Super League broadcasting partner in the US, so you can watch and live-stream the games if you have a valid subscription.
Alternatively, if you have a SlingTV, DirecTV, or FuboTV subscription, you can add the channel to your package. Both Sling TV and FuboTV offer free 7-day trials.
Internationally
beIN Sports streams the Super League games in France while Sport Klub broadcasts in Hungary, Serbia, Poland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, and Montenegro. TV 2 Sport airs the games in Norway.
Showtime Sports airs the games in the Middle East region while Sportsnet World caters to the Canadian rugby buffs.
Sky Sport is licensed to telecast and stream the Super League games in New Zealand.
Why use a VPN to stream the Super League Live online
Unfortunately, the free-to-stream options only include highlights of the Super League matches. You need a paid subscription with one of the official broadcasters or streamers to access all of the games and stream them live online or watch the on-demand replays.
If you already have a subscription with one of the streaming providers, you are all set. But if you travel abroad, you must have already bumped into an annoying geo-block. All of the official streamers are restricted to their national territories – because that’s how copyright and broadcast licensing works in sports.
Where does this licensing calamity leave all the expats, digital nomads, and vacationers who paid upfront for their premium rugby streaming coverage only to get nothing in return? Exactly, you end up having to buy another subscription that offers coverage in the country where you currently live. You end up paying twice for two region-restricted streaming packages.
Solution? Get yourself a VPN and use your existing subscription as if you were in your home country.
A Virtual Private Network is an online service that runs servers in various countries. When you connect to a VPN server in the country of your choice, it assigns you an IP address pertinent to that country.
Let us suppose you want to appear as if browsing from the UK. Connect to a VPN server in the UK, and NOW TV or Sky Sports will identify you as a regular English rugby fan connecting from the national territory. No more geo-blocks – stream your Super League games without a glitch.
In the same vein, connect to a US VPN server to access your Sling TV channels, or to a Canadian VPN server to unlock Sportsnet World.
Note: a VPN is a security tool in the first place. It encrypts your data and routes it through its secured tunnel.
So privacy and security benefits of a VPN are exceptional when you look at a price-per-value ratio of an average VPN:
- Your Internet Service Provider can’t monitor your online activities
- Your data is safe against Man-in-the-Middle and honeypot attacks
- Your ISP-imposed throttling doesn’t apply, so you can stream and play online games bypassing your ISP caps
- A VPN allows you to quickly circumvent your school, campus, or office firewalls that block your access to sports streaming and online gaming sites
- You can bypass local censorship firewalls imposed by your government
- A VPN helps you bypass geo-blocks and access many streaming and gaming sites (Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Videos, Steam, etc.)
How to stream the Super League with a VPN
- Subscribe to a VPN service. If in doubt, check out my list of reputable VPNs with extensive networks across the world.
- Download your VPN app from your provider’s website and install it on your device. Log in.
- Launch your VPN app and find the list of servers or countries.
- Connect to a VPN server in the country of your choice. Again, you need to connect to the server in the country where your broadcaster or streamer is licensed to offer the Super League matches.
- It might be a good idea to clean your browser’s cache now.
- Launch a new instance of your browser and head over to your streamer’s site. Log in.
- You are all set to stream the Super League with your existing subscription – from anywhere in the world.
Best VPNs to stream the Super League
These VPNs run servers in all the relevant locations (in the UK, USA, Europe, and Australia), offer top-tier speeds for HD streaming, and deploy military-grade encryption along with DNS leak protection, kill switch, and a wealth of other security perks. Hope this brief guide helps you set up your Super League live stream and enjoy the game from anywhere in the world.
ExpressVPN
Our top pick!
- Always evades internet control in the PRC
- Keeps ahead of the Netflix VPN detection algorithm
- Benchmark tests show excellent speed
IPVanish
- No limit on the number of devices you can connect at the same time
- SOCKS5 proxy, which its main rivals don’t have
- More VPN servers in more US cities to dodge blackouts
TorGuard
- User-friendly TorGuard app
- Plans that include a dedicated IP
- Gift card payment options