The Kansas City Chiefs have a chance to win their third consecutive Super Bowl if they’re able to defeat the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LIX. If the Chiefs are able to hoist the Lombardi Trophy for the third straight year, the biggest question could be whether the team’s championship merchandise would use the phrase “three-peat.”
That’s because the phrase “three-peat” is actually trademarked by legendary NBA coach and Miami Heat president Pat Riley. According to NPR, Riley and his company, Riles & Company Inc., own at least six live patents for uses of the phrase “three-peat” with the United States Patent and Trademark Office database.
In the late 1980s, Riley adopted the phrase while he served as the Los Angeles Lakers coach and the team was chasing its third consecutive NBA title. In a 2013 interview with Fox Sports, Riley stated Lakers guard Byron Scott came up with the term “twee-peat,” and Riley eventually altered the phrase to “three-peat” while having dinner with his wife and a friend days later.
Sadly for Riley, the Lakers came up short of winning their third consecutive NBA title as they were swept by the Detroit Pistons in the 1989 NBA Finals. Still, the phrase was born from that championship pursuit.
Riley’s trademark of the phrase would cover any piece of merchandise containing the phrase “three-peat,” including T-shirts, jackets, hats, posters and trading cards. In a 2005 interview with ESPN, Riley revealed he doesn’t seek out business deals in the relation to the trademark, but waits for those looking to use the phrase to reach out to him.
Kristen Roberts, the founder and managing attorney of the law firm Trestle Law, told NPR the trademarks often come about as a result of someone hoping to sell products based on their trademark. Roberts revealed Riley could stand to make millions of dollars if he licensed the “three-peat” trademark to companies in relation to this year’s Super Bowl matchup.
Any company that chose to use the trademarked “three-peat” phrase would have to pay an estimated 5% royalty fee. In the past, Riley made around $300,000 when the Chicago Bulls won their third consecutive NBA title in 1993. In addition, the New York Yankees and New York Yankees also netted Riley additional compensation when they won three straight championships.
