I do not understand something about the NHL, Bally Sports, or living in the state of Iowa. Can someone please help me understand who I need to be upset with, and can someone explain this to me like I'm 5 years old?

Am I annoyed at the NHL? Is it the league's fault I'm experiencing these issues watching Minnesota Wild? The Minnesota Wild 2024-2025 NHL season kicked off last week and as someone who loves hockey and is from Minnesota, I've been excited to have hockey back.

In late August, my wife and I got DirectTV with the Bally Sports package included with our purchase. We decided it would be nice to have cable to watch the Minnesota Vikings games, and we added the Bally Sports package to watch Minnesota Wild games when the season started. Here is what I do not understand and where I am completely flabbergasted, frustrated, and annoyed.

Get our free mobile app

EVERY GAME TO START THE SEASON HAS BEEN BLACKED OUT...and I really don't understand why.

What Am I Not Understanding?

I understand that tons of sports games are blacked out in Iowa. This state has more baseball teams blacked out during the season than any other state in the country. Iowa suffers from 6 MLB teams potentially being blacked out...even though there isn't a professional baseball team at the MLB level in this state.

As frustrating and as stupid as games being blacked out in Iowa is, I do understand that it is an issue and sometimes Iowans have to figure out a workaround for watching their favorite sports teams. We all know blackouts can be a problem, which is why I'm so irritated.

What I don't understand is... wasn't buying the Bally Sports Package exactly what you're supposed to do to watch these games? Doesn't my paying for Bally Sports, which is the local coverage of the games, prevent the game from being blacked out? It's not like I'm trying to find some sneaky/illegal way to watch the games.

I'M LITERALLY PAYING FOR THE LOCAL BROADCAST PRODUCT THAT AIRS THE GAMES. I understand that I'm probably missing something but I would like whoever knows the answer to this to explain it to me like I'm re-learning how to tie my shoes. 

I called and asked Bally Sports if there was something I was missing or didn't understand. Of course...that got me nowhere. I eventually asked the service rep "Why would anyone in this state pay for this product if every time we want to use it, it blacks out the games?"

There is literally no point to anyone in Iowa buying Bally Sports if they want to watch any of the teams in Minnesota and various other states that are near ours if they're just going to black out the games. You'd think a company that is going bankrupt would want as many people as they can buy their product but I guess that's not the case.

The worst part is that I might have my frustrations pointed at the wrong product?! Is this the NHL's fault? I have no idea where to point my frustrations but it's annoying. The good news is...I have found a pretty popular workaround.

I Still Haven't Missed a Game

A legal workaround to watch some of your favorite teams' games is to use a virtual private network or a VPN. If you don't know what a VPN is, it might sound "techy" and it kind of is but it's not as complicated as you might think.

According to Kaspersky, "A VPN runs in the background while you are using the internet, keeping you safe and protecting your privacy. It's like having a digital bodyguard who's always on duty, whether you're at home, at work, or on public Wi-Fi."

When I want to watch Wild games, I'll turn on the VPN on my phone and connect to a server...literally anywhere else in the United States, log into DirectTV, and then share the screen from my phone to my TV. It's kind of annoying but pretty easy to do.

When I connect to a server in Utah, Bally Sports no longer recognizes Iowa as my home location, and the games are no longer blacked out. How insane is it that if you have Bally Sports and live in Utah, you have an easier time watching the Minnesota Wild than when you live in Iowa?

I'm not sure what the answer is but sports being blacked out in certain areas, even after you buy the product that broadcasts the games, is easily in the top 3 most idiotic things I've ever experienced.