Many viewers from all around the world have realized the many benefits of streaming the Rugby World Cup 2019 live from wherever they are. If you are one of these people, you are on the best track too.

Now, you don’t have to subject yourself to the location restrictions, neither do you have to suffer from the huge cost of cable.

However, streaming games online is not a child’s play. Just like any other thing which requires the internet, you have to be as careful as can be.

Here are some common risks with streaming online – and how to avoid them.

Problem #1 – Streaming illegal content

You will most likely find a lot of websites on the internet offering you the streams for free. What you might not know – or have chosen to ignore – is that they are getting the content they are showing you illegally.

For every region of the world, there are official broadcasters of the game. Not going through those mean you are also contributing to the crime, and there is no telling what could be done if you should get found out.

Fix: Look for the legitimate streaming options out there and go for them instead. You have a lot to pick from, so you don’t have to worry about not liking what one of them is offering. At different price ranges from $25/ month to about $45/ month, you are also getting a great value for your money.

We discuss more on this below.

Problem #2 – Not getting access

Sometimes, you stream from legitimate sources and you still don’t get access to the games. When this happens, you have become a victim of something called geo-blocking.

Simply put, you are not being granted access to such a content because you are not in the target market where such a content is being distributed.

For example, if you are living/ travelling outside the US and its regions, you will not be able to get the RWC 2019 on NBC networks. The same is true for ITV when you are outside the UK.

Fix: You don’t have to be physically present at the supported locations to get the desired games. Since the target server only reads where your server originates from to approximate your IP address (and by extension, your location), you can get it fooled with a VPN.

Simply connect to a supported market (such as the US or UK) and you get to stream all the games like you were in that market too.

Problem #3 – Clicking malicious content

This is a problem tied to the first one above, but we had to mention it as a standalone issue so you know just how serious it is.

It is often said that ‘when you don’t see what’s on sale, you are probably the product’ – and the same is true for most free streaming websites.

To keep their business up, they have to run on ads and popups. The truth is that no legitimate organization will associate itself with a website infringing the law by obtaining illegal streams. Thus, you can be rest assured that about all offers and ads you see contain malicious intent.

A certain body of research confirms that buttons which users click to exit ads on most of these malicious websites are laden with code which invites malware onto the streaming devices anyways. Thus, you can just never be too careful here.

How to get Legitimate Streams for Free

When you can get the real deal for free, we don’t know why anyone would want to expose themselves to the dangers of these malicious websites.

If you are interested in getting the games for a highly reduced price or without paying a dime at all, here are some official options to go through:

For the UK only

  • ITV – This is valid for only those in the UK. With access to the TVPlayer app, you get to watch all the 48 games played in the RWC 2019 for free out of the box.

For the US

  • SlingTV – This service comes at just $25/month and offers you access to the NBC channels. There is a 7-day free trial to start with before you start paying
  • PlayStation Vue – Costing $45/ month, this service also brings the first 7 days for free and comes with dedicated NBC channels
  • YouTube TV – They have an extensive collection of channels, NBC inclusive, for just $40/month. They also have the most impressive 14-day free trial window
  • fuboTV – Dedicated to anything and everything sports, their 7-day trial period is just enough to see how much value you can gain from them

Pro Tip: Combining all the free trial periods from above, you already have more than a month of free streams to go on.