Prior to the big game, Kolb+Co., a Brookfield, Wisconsin-based public accounting firm, made a Super Bowl wager with Schneider Downs, an independent public accounting firm. Donations raised by employees from both firms would be donated to a charity selected by the winning office.

 

Kolb+Co. chose to donate the funds to Children's Hospital and Health System Foundation if the Green Bay Packers won, and Schneider Downs selected the Pittsburgh Pirates Charities as its designated charity. Both firms matched employee contributions.

 

The terms of the wager didn't end there, however. Had the Steelers won, Tom Luken, president and CEO of Kolb+Co., would have had to wear a jersey and wig of Steelers safety Troy Polamalu. But because the Packers won, Buehler had to don a Green Bay jersey and a foam cheese head hat.

 

“A man’s got to pay off his bets. Here in Pittsburgh, we’ve had a nice run of success over the years [with] our Steelers and Penguins," Schneider Downs CEO Raymond W. Buehler, Jr. told AccountingWEB.

 

"I suppose it’s only fair that we can’t win every bet. Happily, we were able to support a great cause . . . even in defeat,” Buehler said.

 

Collectively, the two firms raised more than $2,250 for the Children’s Hospital and Health System Foundation in Wisconsin. The total represents amounts accumulated by both firms in two ways: Employees paid $5 each for the privilege of showing team spirit by wearing jerseys of their favorite team to work. Secondly, each firm matched the total raised by their employees.

 

Schneider Downs also made a contribution to the Pittsburgh Pirates Charities.