How to Watch ESPN While Traveling Outside the US

New: How to Watch College Hockey Outside the US (2026-27), conference by conference.

ESPN’s streaming service, including ESPN Select (the former ESPN+), is a US product. Its subscriber agreement says ESPN is “only available in the United States and certain of its territories,” so expect live US streams in the ESPN app to stop working once you are outside the US.

Your realistic option for live games is a local broadcaster where you are. ESPN’s terms also prohibit using a VPN or similar tools to disguise your location, which we explain below. A VPN is still worth having on the trip for hotel and airport Wi-Fi.

ESPN+ is now ESPN Select: plans and prices in 2026

Since August 2025, ESPN sells its streaming service directly in two tiers. Current prices, per ESPN’s help center (anyone who subscribed before August 20, 2026 moved to these prices at their first bill after September 17, 2026):

Many people get ESPN Unlimited another way: through the Disney+, Hulu and ESPN Unlimited bundle, with a TV provider login, or through YouTube TV, which now shows ESPN Unlimited content inside its own app for subscribers whose plan includes ESPN. ESPN Unlimited is also the plan that streams The CW’s college sports in the ESPN app this season.

Knowing which one you have matters abroad, because it tells you which account you sign in with: your ESPN account, or your TV provider or YouTube TV login.

ESPN Select is also where Hockey East and ECAC Hockey home games stream in the US, according to Hockey East and ECAC Hockey. Our guide to college hockey conferences on ESPN shows what those conferences offer viewers outside the US instead.

What happens when you open the ESPN app outside the US

The subscription itself does not change when you travel. What changes is where the app thinks you are. ESPN’s rights are sold country by country, so the app checks your location before it plays a live stream. ESPN’s help center says your location is determined by your IP address, and its subscriber agreement adds that ESPN “may use different technologies and methods to verify your location” and that some devices may require location sharing.

Watch on a local broadcaster instead

For big events, check local listings first. Many international events you care about have a local rights holder where you are staying, sometimes including ESPN’s own international channels. This is the simplest legal route and costs nothing extra if your hotel has the channel.

It does not help for most regular-season college games and other US-only coverage. For those, plan to catch replays and highlights when you are back, or watch when you return to the US.

What ESPN’s terms say about using a VPN

A VPN connects your device to a server in the US, so apps see a US internet address. For ESPN specifically, the subscriber agreement rules this out. It says:

• “You may not access the Services from locations where we do not have rights or where we do not make the Services available.”
• Users may not circumvent the service’s protections, “including using any technology or technique to obscure or disguise your location when you are accessing the Services.”

That is the version of the Disney+, ESPN and Hulu Subscriber Agreement dated October 17, 2025. Paying for ESPN does not change those rules, and ESPN can block VPN connections or act on accounts that break its terms. Check the current agreement before you travel in case it has changed.

Checklist before you fly

1. Update the ESPN app on every device you are bringing.
2. Sign in once at home with the right login (ESPN account, TV provider or YouTube TV), and check that a live channel plays.
3. Install a VPN at home for public Wi-Fi and sign in, in case its website is slow or blocked where you are going.
4. Bring a streaming stick if you want the game on a hotel TV, and set it up at home with both apps.
5. Note the time difference. A 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff is 1:30 a.m. in Paris for most of the season.

Hotel and airport Wi-Fi

A VPN is worth turning on for public Wi-Fi. It encrypts traffic between your device and the VPN server, so other people on the same network cannot see what you are doing. On hotel networks you often need to accept the login page first, then turn the VPN on.

We compare five VPNs on device limits, refund windows and TV apps in our VPN comparison. Proton VPN and NordVPN both offer 30-day refunds on first purchases made on their websites.