Victorious in the last two Super Bowls, the Kansas City Chiefs have a chance to win three in a row when they face off against the Philadelphia Eagles in New Orleans next month.
The team would make history with a "three-peat," but whether you see that phrase on Chiefs merchandise is a whole different ballgame.
That's because the term "three-peat" — widely used in sports media and beyond to describe teams or athletes headed for their third consecutive championship win — is trademarked.
Pat Riley, the former NBA head coach and current president of the Miami Heat, owns half a dozen trademarks related to the phrase "three-peat" going back decades.
In the late 1980s, Riley was coaching the Los Angeles Lakers when the squad nabbed championships two years running.
Riley told Fox Sports in 2013 that it was during that time that Lakers guard Byron Scott coined the term "twee-peat," and that days later, while Riley was having dinner with his wife and their friend, "the word 'three-peat' came up."
In the 1989 NBA Finals, the team faced off against the Detroit Pistons for what they hoped would be their third league win in a row, but the Pistons ultimately swept the Lakers in that series, winning the title in four games.
However it wasn't a total loss for Riley, who thought to secure the "three-peat" trademark.
Riley: Trademark is 'like picking up a penny on the ground'
Kristen Roberts, founder and managing attorney of the intellectual property law firm Trestle Law, says trademarks often arise from someone hoping to sell products based on their big idea.
"They'll see an opportunity, and they'll say, 'OK, well, I don't necessarily ever intend to create everything myself, but I'll partner with a company that does that and then I'll license it out and then we'll split the proceeds."
Riley's company, Riles & Company, Inc., now owns at least six trademarks for variations of the phrase "three-peat," according to the United States Patent and Trademark Office database.
The trademarks cover items such as shirts, jackets, hats, jewelry, mugs, posters, trading cards, energy drinks and bumper stickers.
Riley told ESPN in 2005 that he doesn't pursue business deals using the trademarks, but instead waits for interested parties to come to him and ask if they can use the phrase — for a price.
"It's like going out there and picking up a penny on the ground," he said. "I don't pay any attention to it. If somebody wants to license that phrase, we'll license it to them. But I don't go out and pursue it. We don't sell it; we don't browbeat anybody. If they want it, they go to somebody and they'll pay us a royalty on it."
An attorney listed on Riley's trademark documents did not provide a response to NPR before publication. Neither the Miami Heat nor another attorney listed on the trademark documents replied to NPR's request for comment.
How much money could be at stake?
Roberts suggested that Riley could make millions of dollars by licensing the trademark to merchandisers around this year's matchup.
"Super Bowls are a big deal. They're it. That's the big one, especially for something like this, where it doesn't happen very often," she said. "I think it would be a mistake to try to stop everyone from [using the trademark]. I think instead the smart move is to say, 'Hey, you're doing this. This is a violation. Give me a little piece and then be on your way,' right?"
The National Retail Federation estimates that football fans are expected to spend around $18.6 billion on this year's Super Bowl, around $2.6 billion of which could go toward team apparel alone.
According to the ESPN article from 2005, anyone who used the "three-peat" trademark was expected to pay an estimated 5% royalty fee.
Riley reportedly raked in $300,000 after the Chicago Bulls won their third straight NBA championship in 1993, the outlet reported. He earned money again from the trademark when the Bulls repeated the achievement in 1998, when the New York Yankees emerged triumphant in their third consecutive MLB World Series in 2000, and after the Los Angeles Lakers topped the NBA three years running in 2002.
Riley told ESPN in 2005 that he donated most of the money he earned from trademark royalties to charity.
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