Following the lead of MLB and the NHL in broadcasting online, DIRECTV has created a new service for 2007 NFL SUNDAY TICKET customers to access their games on the web, but at a price. Besides having the NFL SUNDAY TICKET, subscribers will need to upgrade to the SuperFan service tier for an additional $99.

Thanks to Joel Price for the quick heads-up on this news.

DIRECTV NFL SUNDAY TICKET customers who subscribe to the SuperFan option will have the entire weekly lineup of live NFL SUNDAY TICKET games streamed online to their PC or laptop computer every Sunday during the 2007 NFL regular season through DIRECTV's new NFL SUNDAY TICKET Supercast service.

The question remaining open is how much will this satisfy die-hard NFL fans who haven't yet caved in getting DIRECTV service? If you just wanted to watch games online, you could essentially get all the services and not use the dish but you would be paying a good amount of money. Will the ability to watch the games online be enough for users to make the switch?

Note: If you are outside the U.S. and waant to watch live NFL games online, then you need to look at getting a subscription to NFL Game Pass. This service is not available in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Bahamas, Bermuda, Antigua, and U.S. Territories.

In addition to the new Web access to its NFL SUNDAY TICKET package, DIRECTV will provide NFL SUNDAY TICKET SuperFan customers the ability to receive in-progress highlights from NFL SUNDAY TICKET games on demand via their mobile phones. NFL SUNDAY TICKET MOBILE will offer highlights along with complete scores and clock updates from every game.

"With NFL SUNDAY TICKET Supercast and our new mobile service providing virtually unlimited access to NFL SUNDAY TICKET games and highlights, Superfan customers can stay on top of all the action every Sunday, whether they’re away from home, out of the country or at brunch with their in-laws," said Eric Shanks, executive vice president of DIRECTV Entertainment. "By offering more access to NFL content by mobile phone or online, more HD games and new interactive features, we have established our exclusive NFL SUNDAY TICKET service as the most compelling sports TV viewing experience anywhere in the world."

NFL SUNDAY TICKET Superfan customers who register and have the required browser and broadband connections will have access to live streaming video of all NFL SUNDAY TICKET games, as well as the Red Zone channel's live look-ins and real-time highlights, and up-to-the-minute scores and stats.

NFL SUNDAY TICKET SuperFan will offer a wide array of innovative interactive features including new enhancements:

• HD Games – more than 180 NFL SUNDAY TICKET games will be available in HD, increasing 20 percent over last season.
• NFL SUNDAY TICKET Red Zone Channel – will be available for the first time in HD, with NFL broadcasting veteran Andrew Siciliano, returning as host. Red Zone will continue to provide up-to-the-minute highlights, combined with live-action of critical plays and moments from NFL SUNDAY TICKET game broadcasts.
• NFL SUNDAY TICKET Game Mix – Interactive channel (702) is back this year, allowing fans to view eight NFL SUNDAY TICKET game broadcasts on one screen.
• NFL SUNDAY TICKET Short Cuts – will again feature edited versions of NFL game broadcasts, allowing fans to watch an entire game in 30 minutes or less.

NFL SUNDAY TICKET customers who don't subscribe to the SuperFan service tier will continue to receive up to 14 NFL games every Sunday during the NFL regular season including DIRECTV's interactive features, which offer the following enhancements that make them both easier to use and more useful:

• A real-time scoreboard of all the day's action, with a new "single-game mode" lets viewers track the real-time score from one game of their choice in the corner of the screen. Viewers can use the scoreboard to tune directly to any game.
• PlayerTracker now allows fans and fantasy football fanatics to track more of their favorite players, offering the statistics of up to two teams of nine players each, and receive real-time onscreen alerts on any NFL SUNDAY TICKET channel.
• The Game Stats and Player Stats features offer team and individual statistics, and "Today’s Best" provides a list of the top statistical performances from across the league. Viewers can now tune directly from the Stats displays to the game of their choice.