It's always better to run a cable, more robust, more throughput, more options. We've had good luck with baluns for the most part but the couple of times we haven't have definitely pushed me to use them as a last resort. The Intellix ones have always been good though, better than the rest IMO.
Just bite the bullet and run the cables, you'll be glad you took the time to do so. I don't think the AppleTV option is what you want.
You've got the right idea by running a bunch for future use as well. Seeing how you can use CatX for just about anything these days it's a good option. Some baluns are more picky than others on the wire that's used so if you want to hedge your bet I'd make sure to use a good solid copper core Cat6.