Business of Sport: It seems Michael Smurfit's property-on-the-golf-course scheme may have started something. In the US, a developer is proposing to build condos next to football stadiums. Known as "field houses" these luxury sports condominiums are to be built in Green Bay and Baton Rouge - two of the biggest fan bases.

They will be one-bedroom loft-style units with the entertainment area as part of the plans. And of course views that should just about be on a par with the chief exec's corporate box. Prices will range from $150,000 to $600,000. Meanwhile, the K Club is looking for a980,000 and upwards for its golf properties.

Following on from the theme of sports fans spurning live cup final soccer, last Sunday's Observer had an interesting survey on Premiership fans' attendances this season. According to the survey, figures are down 6 per cent from this time last year, citing high ticket costs and predictability as the main factors for staying away.

Arsenal have failed to sell out any of their home games this season - and this on foot of their imminent move to the 60,000-seater Ashburton Grove.

And if you wanted to know if one player really can put bums on seats - or take them off it in this case - the same survey found that Everton's home crowds have dropped 7,000 since Wayne Rooney left the club.

Just a day after the new European Constitution was formally signed, it has been announced that the EU has dropped its investigation into the sale of Real Madrid's training ground for a480 million, wiping out its a270 million debt, in May 2001. There was a lack of evidence to prove public funds were illegally paid to the club.

If you were one of the hardy 9,676 souls at Lansdowne Road last week for the FAI Cup final, congratulations. You may be part of a dying breed. Hold on to your match programme, it could be a collector's item pretty soon.

The crowd of 9,676 was about 5, 324 less than last year and only 1,676 more than the attendance at a GAA club final - that played in Armagh between Crossmaglen and Mullaghbawn last week.

When numbers for the final of your blue-riband competition begin to decline and when club GAA finals begin to rival you for attendance figures then there are problems. Admittedly there were mitigating factors: the second Test of the International Rules was on that afternoon but, most bizarrely of all, the "match of the season", as it was being billed in the Premiership, between Manchester United and Arsenal, was live on Sky Sports at 4 p.m.

On a Bank Holiday weekend with the choice between Rooney and Henry or Lavine and Keegan maybe the only surprise is 9,000-plus bothered to head to Lansdowne Road. Take away the die-hards from Longford and Waterford and there'd be few enough that had paid in who went to "support football".

For all their decrying of those who support football in England, it would be interesting to note how many Bohemians, Shamrock Rovers, Shelbourne or St Patrick's Athletic "die-hards" were at Lansdowne or were in the pub watching the "foreign game" on Sky Sports.

Are people interested anymore? Obviously not judging by the attendance and if one takes a20 that was the asking price for stand tickets as the indicator, then total gate receipts would have been less than €200,000 on the day. Minus freebies, stadium costs and other expenses, cup final day could not have been too profitable.

For Longford, the winners' cheque came to a paltry €20,000, probably barely enough to cover transport and accommodation costs. While the glory and the honour in winning the cup is priceless, the real price for the National League is on the empty terraces and in the accounts book.

But is it all doom and gloom? Television figures for last Sunday afternoon's fest of sport reveal a high number of people who stayed with the FAI Cup final - despite the big match at OId Trafford on satellite.

The second Test of the International Rules series captured, in this column's opinion, a relatively high viewership of 351,000 people which equated to a 9.3 rating or 49.4 per cent share. These are impressive figures, especially when taking into account the 36-point lead Ireland had from the first Test.

But, the big test was to come later that day when the Rules was finished and viewers had the choice of staying with Irish sport and watching the FAI Cup final or switching over to Sky Sports .

The result? Another surprisingly strong result for RTÉ. Only 164,000 turned off and 186,000 stayed to watch the National League product. Sky, meanwhile, recorded a 134,000 viewership in Ireland for their clash of Manchester United and Arsenal - although this figure only takes into account home viewing and does not reflect pub numbers.

So, taken at face value, despite the fact less than 10,000 bothered showing up on the day, in TV figures at least, RTÉ outscored Sky Sports by 52,000. The National League beating the Premiership. Now there's something you won't hear too often.

Is it too late to start sounding the death knell of the domestic soccer game in this country judging by TV viewing figures?

Probably not the game, but as for the domestic soccer product, it appears to be slipping further away from the consciousness of a sporting public that is feeding off a diet of big-time sport.

European Cup rugby has kicked off again; Munster and Leinster have a good chance to reach the quarter-finals and beyond, covered by RTÉ and Sky every step of the way while ERC's marketing bandwagon rolls into town behind it. There's Champions League on TV3, RTÉ or Sky to whet our appetites throughout the season; and the Premiership will keep us watching as the millionaire set - United, Arsenal and Chelsea - battle it out.

Meanwhile, the GAA is in its winter slumber, limbering up for the New Year and all the while the big business execs are waiting with open cheque books to have a piece of the action. It's rather apt, perhaps, the National League's great summer soccer experiment winds down for another year when dark nights and cold evenings take its place.

Some wags might even say it's a more attractive option. But how can the 186,000 cup final viewers translate into actual euros for the National League?

Tapping into that well of interest is the code the FAI needs to crack. And sooner rather than later. Television viewers can zap out at the flick of a button. Getting them off their couches and out of the houses is the riddle that's left.