Last Updated on October 26, 2023
Can you Watch Premier League in the US on BBC iPlayer?
If you’re based in the USA and missing Premiership football, then there’s no need to miss out. In this interconnected world there’s lots of ways to keep in touch with all the Premiership action. The most common method is obviously to watch via your TV, satellite or cable subscription. However this method can be quite expensive especially if you don’t want all the matches.
In the US, the Premier league rights are currently held by NBC Sports Group which airs every match directly on its NBC channels. You can also access these channels on other site, as they are also broadcast on other streaming and cable services. However, although these used to be all free, now you’ll have to subscribe to the NBC Sports Gold pass to watch every match.
Many Ways to Watch Premier League in the USA
Fortunately most of the English football leagues are available online if you know where to look. Much of this is due to the increasing popularity of ‘soccer’ in the US. Something likely to continue with the announcement of superstars like David Beckham’s new team which will further increase its reach and scope in the USA. Further down the English leagues, Wrexham currently in League Two are becoming another popular conduit to the US fan base. However, for many soccer fans, the Premiership remains the most attractive viewing especially with many ex-pats living and working in the USA.
BBC iPlayer Highlights – Not Live Football
So how else can you access the Premiership football? Well, a great alternative and one that’s available completely free of charge is to tap into the BBC’s coverage. The BBC has a flagship football show called Match of the Day which is the oldest football show in the world. It doesn’t have live games anymore but has extensive highlight coverage of virtually every game in the Premiership.
Here’s how you can watch it online from the USA or indeed anywhere in the world – just using a simple VPN like – NordVPN which will let anyone watch Premiership football in the USA for free.
NordVPN Latest Discounts
BBC iPlayer – Match of the Day
As you can see, although the BBC and its extensive online website – BBC iPlayer is normally only available in the United Kingdom, there’s a simple workaround. All you need to do is use a VPN which can give you a UK IP address and everything is completely accessible. You can watch the Match of the Day live stream on Saturday night at around 10:30 GMT and on Sunday evening for its next show Match of the Day Two. It’s also repeated on Sunday morning at 8:00 AM GMT which might work out easier for many North Americans.
If you don’t catch the shows live, then you can also watch them on the BBC archives which are stored on BBC iPlayer. Again, just use a UK IP address to watch on there. Most shows are stored for 12 months on the archive although you should be aware that the football matches are only available for about a week before they are removed. This is due to the rather complicated licensing rights for the Premier League highlights.
Summary – you can watch Premiership Football in the USA, simply by using a VPN to change you IP address to a UK one. Then connect to the site as normal and you will be able to watch the football on Match of the day.
FAQ – Additional Questions
Here’s some updated questions and emails we’ve received included in the post to keep it up to date.
What’s the BBC iPlayer Premier League Coverage Like?
The BBC iPlayer will show you all the Premier League goals and highlights but it never has full live games. The rights for the live games are held by other companies – including Sky, Amazon and BT. It’s great for an overview and you will see every single goal, the BBC does have rights to some FA Cup matches and some international games. These can also be seen on the UKs other free to air channels – ITVX and Channel 4 sometimes.
All the channels are available by using the VPN method demonstrated above. However you will also need a paid subscription for the premium channels from Sky in addition to using a UK based VPN server. Be careful though as they sometimes need a UK based form of payment too.
How to Watch Premier League in USA Free of Charge?
The BBC covers all the highlights of the premier league on Match of the Day and is a free to air channel for UK viewers. It’s financed by the UK TV license, which unfortunately is not available outside the UK for anyone. You will need a BBC user account, which you can set up by connecting to a UK VPN server first. You’ll be asked for an email address and a UK postcode (like a ZIP code) – you can use any valid UK postcode (just use one from a business or location there’s no check as long as it exists).
Obviously the VPN service has a charge so it’s not completely free. The only completely free option would be to use the 14 day trial of a service called SMART DNS which is available from this company – Free Trial of Smart DNS. It works like a VPN but only for accessing certain restricted sites (BBC is included) – you have to change your DNS servers to the special account ones and everything should work. The trial is completely free for 14 days and requires no credit cards but please support them if you enjoy the service it’s really inexpensive.
