The Kansas City Chiefs have the opportunity to make NFL history on Sunday night at the 2025 Super Bowl when they face the Philadelphia Eagles. With a win, Kansas City will become the first NFL franchise to ever win three Super Bowls in a row.
And if that happens, Miami Heat president and former championship NBA head coach Pat Riley is set to benefit, big-time.
Since 1989, when he was the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, Riley has owned the trademark for the term “three-peat” after his Lakers won their second NBA title in a row.
Though they failed to complete the three-peat, Riley would later receive royalties from the Bulls’ two three-peats with Michael Jordan, as well as the Lakers three-peat from 2000-02 and the New York Yankees three-peat in the MLB from 1998-00.
The Chiefs have also reached a deal with Riley to allow them to use the phrase “three-peat” (for a fee, of course), Riley’s trademark attorney John Aldrich told Darren Rovell of Cllct. Licensees to use the term would include Fanatics, New Era, Wilson, Riddell and Wincraft, a league spokesperson told Rovell, with merchandise exclusively sold at Chiefs retail.
It’s unclear exactly what percentage of sales would go to Riley in the form of royalties, but I’d be willing to venture a guess as to who he is rooting for on Sunday night.
