When Disney launched its standalone ESPN app in August 2025, the old ESPN+ tier was renamed ESPN Select. The catalog underneath stayed the same: out-of-market NHL and MLB games, a deep bench of college sports, every LaLiga and Bundesliga match, PGA Tour golf and tennis. Watching ESPN+ abroad runs into one wall, though. The service is licensed for the United States only, and the moment your IP address leaves American soil the player simply refuses to load.
The fix is refreshingly simple. A solid VPN drops you back onto a US server, so a hotel room in London or a beach in Spain still gets you the live feed in up to 1080p. ExpressVPN has unblocked ESPN reliably for years and keeps speeds high enough that fast sport never buffers. This guide walks through every step, flags what changed after UFC moved to Paramount, and explains which plan makes sense now that WWE premium events have arrived and the lineup looks different.
ESPN+ actively blocks VPNs. Only certain providers reliably bypass the detection.
| VPN Service | Price | ESPN+ | Tested | Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 ExpressVPNBEST | From $2.79/mo | ✓ Works | July 6 | Try it |
 NordVPN | From $2.99/mo | ✓ Works | July 4 | Open |
 Surfshark | From $1.78/mo | ✓ Works | July 6 | Open |
 ProtonVPN | From $3.59/mo | ✓ Works | July 4 | Open |
 Private Internet Access | From $1.79/mo | ✓ Works | July 3 | Open |
 CyberGhost | From $1.75/mo | ~ Partial | July 2 | Open |
 IPVanish | From $2.19/mo | ~ Partial | July 1 | Open |
✓ Works✓ Works✓ Works✓ Works✓ Works~ Partial~ PartialTakes about 2 minutes. Works on your phone, tablet, TV, PC, or laptop.
ESPN+ is only available in the United States. To access it from anywhere else, use a premium VPN.
ESPN+ is blocked in the United Kingdom, in Australia, in Canada, in New Zealand and in Ireland, plus in 188 more countries. To access it, use a premium VPN like ExpressVPN.
ESPN+ is Disney’s direct-to-consumer sports subscription for the US market. UFC was the headline draw until those rights moved to Paramount in 2026; today the lineup centers on out-of-market NHL and MLB packages, LaLiga and Bundesliga soccer, thousands of college sports broadcasts and WWE premium live events such as WrestleMania. In the autumn 2025 restructuring Disney launched its flagship ESPN DTC app on 21 August 2025 and renamed the standalone ESPN+ tier as ESPN Select. The service is US-only and is often bundled with Disney+ and Hulu at a meaningful discount over standalone pricing.
5 tips from our ESPN+ testing team · Updated June 19, 2026
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