The Chinese Super League, or CSL, is in full swing, as 16 clubs fight their way up the table to challenge the behemoth Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao. Will Shanghai SIPG or Shandong Luneng Taishan be able to grab the title for a change?

Luckily for the CSL buffs, the league has broadcast contracts with a broad range of domestic and foreign companies.

In China, the China Sports Media, aka CSM, has exclusive rights for CSL until 2025. Also, QQ Sports, Qinghai TV, Shandong Sports Channel, Guangdong Sports Channel, Tianjin Sports Channel, and PPTV Sport China stream select games in China while LeSports HK airs the games in Hong Kong.

You can also tune in BTV Sports Channel. The government-owned channel and streaming portal streams select CSL games for free but only in Pekin.

Among major international Chinese Super League broadcasters are:

Internationally, Bet365 streams the Chinese Super League. But their streams are blacked out if some local broadcaster shows the game in your region. Also, OZ features a dedicated Chinese Super League channel available in select European countries.

The good news is select CSL matches are broadcast in many countries. The bad news is most of the foreign CSL broadcasters are paid services, and their coverage is far from comprehensive. You only get a handful of games per season.

Clearly, the only way to get you a complete CSL fill is with CSM or a combination of QQ Sports Live, PPTV, BTV, and LeSports HK – neither of which is accessible from abroad.

Here’s when a VPN comes in handy. A Virtual Private Network is a web of VPN servers across the world. When you connect to a server in Hong Kong, you obtain a Hong Kong IP address. Moreover, all your traffic goes through the Hong Kong server.

As a result, LeSports HK identifies you as a regular customer coming from Hong Kong. With the help of a VPN, you can stream your Chinese Super League and a ton of other shows available only through Chinese streaming sites like YouKu. You can be anywhere in the world – all you need is an Internet connection, a VPN subscription, and a computer or mobile device.

Top that off with robust encryption a VPN deploys to protect your data, thanks to which:

  • Your Internet Service Provider can’t snoop on you or throttle your bandwidth
  • Hackers can’t steal your sensitive information
  • You can bypass your school, office, or state-imposed firewall, including the Great Firewall of China
  • You can access foreign streaming sites, gaming servers, and region-locked discounts when shopping online
  • Sites only see your VPN IP address, and not your real location
  • Staying anonymous online is easier, provided you do not rely on the VPN alone to keep you anonymous
  • You browse below the radar of mass surveillance agencies
  1. Buy a VPN subscription and install the VPN client on your computer.
  2. Connect to a VPN server in Hong Kong.
  3. It makes sense to clear your browser’s cache and cookies.
  4. Go to your streaming provider’s portal.
  5. You’re all set to enjoy the Chinese Super League – from anywhere in the world.

Pro tip: Use a computer instead of a smartphone to spoof into China. Smartphones are less secure than computers due to OS limitations. Some VPN features you can use on a desktop may be unavailable on mobile.

As of March 31, 2018, state-owned ISPs are supposed to block VPNs in China. It’s not entirely clear if the ban will be as strict as it sounds when it rolls out to its full extent, though. For now, some VPN providers are having issues while for others it’s business as usual. That said, my top VPN picks work perfectly fine and let you spoof into China to stream your CSL without any issues.

NordVPN

  • More US city locations than its rivals
  • Includes malware protection
  • No-logs policy

PureVPN

  • Excellent client with pre-configured modes for streaming, P2P, privacy
  • Kill switch
  • Support for wide range of protocols, including OpenVPN

Ivacy VPN

  • Over 200 servers in 80+ countries
  • Sleek, easy to use UI
  • Customer support via email, Skype, and ticketing

Mullvad VPN

  • Three-hour free trial
  • No registration, even for paid members
  • Accepts anonymous payments

VyprVPN

  • Golden Frog, the business behind VyprVPN also runs a gaming platform
  • VyprVPN pioneered obfuscation techniques and they have always worked well
  • VyprVPN’s no logs policy is confirmed by an independent audit