English Premier Final : Commercial vs. Cause?

How's this for irony - in yesterday's English Premier League final, Barcelona FC faced off against Manchester United. Yup, the same Man-U that is looking for a new £300 million shirt sponsor to replace defunct AIG. In contrast, Barca has steadfastly passed on sponsorship money altogether and has a deal in place to actually donate £1.2 mm/yr to global cause and shirt partner, UNICEF.

Final score: 2-0 Barca. Draw your own conclusions.

As CNBC's Darren Rovell points out in the piece below, organizations should be free to market and monetize how they best see fit. Just as companies should not be constrained by artificial and short-sighted limitations (i.e. lawmakers) when making business decisions (i.e. how to spend marketing budgets). Still, none of this takes away from the irony of yesterday's match-up.