NFL blackouts are caused by licensing restrictions. A local TV or cable provider will have the exclusive rights to broadcast a local team’s games, so you can’t watch them elsewhere while you’re within the state or the city. Local teams may also enforce a blackout of a home game if the game is not sold out.. In addition, some streaming providers may black you out of games based on your location. You can use CyberGhost VPN to connect to a server in another location and bypass these restrictions.