'NFL Sunday Ticket' Coming to New Apple TV?

Market research surveys can certainly be hit-or-miss when it comes to revealing companies' future product plans, but a new one from satellite TV provider DirecTV dug up by Engadget hints at the intriguing possibility of the company's "NFL Sunday Ticket" sports package being made available through the new Apple TV as well as a number of other devices.

According to a tipster, some of the questions asking about potential pricing setups indicated the digital version would be available via currently unsupported devices including internet connected Blu-ray players & TVs, "game machines," Apple TV, Roku and Boxee.

Such a move to push live streaming content to the Apple TV would mark a significant expansion of the device's capabilities. And while the service would presumably be offered as a menu option on the Apple TV in a similar manner to Netflix, the existing NFL Sunday Ticket iOS applications demonstrate how such content could be relatively easily moved to the new Apple TV should Apple decide to open up the platform to third-party applications.

In the United States, the traditional NFL Sunday Ticket TV package is available exclusively through DirecTV, making it one of the satellite television provider's key selling points for consumers. In addition to offering access via their set-top boxes, DirectTV also offers "NFL Sunday Ticket To-Go" for both its traditional subscribers and non-subscribers alike, allowing them to view content on their computers and on mobile devices such as the iPad and iPhone.