Pat Riley had little to profit off the Chiefs’ Super Bowl three-peat had Kansas City managed to beat the Eagles last Sunday.
Riley has owned multiple trademarks to “three-peat” since the late ‘80s. The then-Lakers coach registered for it when his team was going for its third straight NBA championship. The Lakers wound up getting swept by the Pistons in the 1989 NBA Finals.
Over the years other teams have pulled off the three-peat, including Michael Jordan’s ‘90s Bulls (twice), the Yankees (1998-2000) and the now-defunct Houston Comets of the WNBA (1997-2000), giving Riley some money off of the trademark’s usage since he attained it.
The Bulls’ dynasty netted Riley $900,000 in royalties, according to ESPN.
“It’s like going out there and picking up a penny on the ground,” Riley said of the trademark in 2005. “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.”
The Chiefs recently struck a deal with Riley to use the trademark if they won, but the Eagles had different plans, handing the team just its second Super Bowl loss of the Patrick Mahomes era.
But Riley has never kept the money for himself.
The Heat’s president and eight-time NBA champion (as a player, coach, and executive) told the Associated Press on Thursday that he donated his share of the “three-peat” revenues to various charities in the 35 years he’s had the license. One specific charity Riley and his wife, Chris, try to help is the Florida-based Special Operations Warrior Foundation, which helps military veterans and their families.
The SOWF has received $200,000 from the Rileys in recent years and another $100,000 from a Heat donor who contributed to a charity of Riley’s choice, according to the AP. The foundation honors deceased soldiers and Medal of Honor recipients with grants that help fund the education of the veterans’ children through college. It also helps pay for wounded soldiers’ medical care.
Riley has been very private over the years as to what he did with the three-peat money, but previously said some of it goes to the Pat Riley Family Foundation.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, whose team is 25–28 at the All Star break, recently provided a teaser to it when the Oregon native was asked if he had a rooting interest in the Super Bowl. Both he and his players joked they were rooting for the Chiefs in hopes that their boss would use the trademark money on wine. But Spoelstra implied he knew where the money has been going.
“There’s a great story to it,” Spoelstra said.
Riley said the donations he and the Heat give to veterans organizations are “very minor in comparison to what they deserve.”
“These are very patriotic, brave and proud people,” Riley told the AP. “What they do in serving our country to keep us safe is one of the most courageous sacrifices an American can offer.”
It may be a while before Riley has the chance to profit off the trademark again. The Connecticut Huskies men’s basketball team is the only current repeat champions that could be in three-peat contention, but they’re currently 17-7 and not the title-contender they’ve been the past two seasons.
