With so many people choosing to consume media online rather than through a cable subscription, it’s easy to see why sites like Netflix are so hugely popular. It’s pretty easy to watch great movies or shows online these days, but what’s not so easy is getting high quality sports streams.

The Premier League is broadcast in 220 territories around the world, with only 16% of global viewers actually in the UK. Many broadcasters around the world offer some kind of streaming service. NowTV from SkySports, for example, has HD streaming for all its UK subscribers, along with mobile apps etc.

The downside of this is that most broadcasters only allow you to stream live matches if you’re actually in the country where you have the subscription. For example, if you live half the year abroad, but still have a Sky Sports package at home in the UK, you can’t access live sports streams when you’re away.

In addition to this, the price for signing up to these services varies wildly, and Sky Sports is pretty expensive when compared to Denmark’s Viaplay, or New Zealand’s Premier League Pass. Do you want to know something that seems a little unfair? Ireland doesn’t get any broadcasting rights to the Premier league at all, while the USA broadcasts every single Premier League match live every season.

So what are the options if you want to watch the Premier League online?

Well you could always use illegal streaming sites that upload Sky Sports’ content live. The main problem with these sites is that they usually have low quality streams, unreliable connections, and often try to trick you into downloading files that could harm your computer or steal your data.

How to get around geo-restrictions:

There are actually two ways of making sites think you are actually in the country they want you to be in.

The first, and most widely known, is to use a VPN, which you can use to connect to a server in the country you need to be in, so the website thinks your computer is in that country. This is great in theory, but VPNs are often too slow to stream HD content live, so I recommend using a Smart DNS service.

Unlike a VPN, a SmartDNS does not slow down your internet at all, and simply redirects the geo-location request from the website. Basically making you appear to be in the correct country without sending all your other internet data through different countries. The SmartDNS doesn’t affect any part of your internet connection unless it gets a geo-locking request, in which case it gives a positive response, making the website think you’re in that country.

You can also use services like these to watch Match of the Day when you’re on vacation. Simply set up your Smart DNS service, which you can leave running in the background without any disturbance to your normal internet browsing, and go to the BBC iPlayer website and stream BBC One live.

Or you can use the Smart DNS service to access US sites such as NBC Sports Live Extra (for Premier League games), FOX Soccer 2Go (for FA Cup and Champions League) and fuboTV (for La Liga, Serie A and Ligue Un).

For the latest Premier League fixtures that are being shown on US television, visit our Premier League TV schedule page.