Chiefs' failed three-peat costs Miami Heat executive big bucks

The Kansas City Chiefs got blown out in Super Bowl LIX, dashing their hopes of a third straight title and depriving Riley of the chance to cash in on his trademark. The Philadelphia Eagles won in a rout, 40-22, with Riley's hopes of getting paid slipping away like an errant Patrick Mahomes pass into the arms of Cooper DeJean.

Riley had a deal in place that allowed the Chiefs to use his trademark on merchandise if they did manage to "three-peat." But like every other major professional sports franchise that has attempted it since the Los Angeles Lakers won three straight from 2000-02, the Chiefs fell short.

That's happened to Riley's teams a few times, once immediately after he registered the trademark. Lakers guard Byron Scott coined the term after the Lakers repeated as champions in 1998. Perhaps due to the bad karma from Riley poaching his player's idea, the Lakers were swept by the Detroit Pistons in the 1989 NBA Finals. In 2014, the San Antonio Spurs beat Riley's Heat as they went for a third consecutive title.

He did manage to get "three-peat" money from the Chicago Bulls' two runs of titles in the 1990s, reportedly $300K for the first one and $600K for the second. The downside was that the Bulls defeated Riley's teams in five of the six seasons where they won their titles; first the New York Knicks and then the Heat. The Knicks lost in the 1993 Eastern Conference Finals after blowing a 2-0 lead, though enriching Riley's bank account.

Riley also cashed in when the New York Yankees won three titles from 1998-2000, and when the Lakers took home the title from 2000-02. He may have also cleaned up when the WNBA's Houston Comets won four straight from 1997-2000 — Riley also owns the trademarks for "four-ward" as well. Since then, no team has pulled it off.

The Dallas Cowboys, Denver Broncos and New England Patriots fell short in the NFL. Neither the 2010-11 Lakers nor the 2018-19 Golden State Warriors could win three in a row, nor could the Detroit Red Wings, Pittsburgh Penguins or Tampa Bay Lightning. The Yankees' three-peat was the last time a baseball champion won in consecutive seasons. And the Las Vegas Aces couldn't get past the New York Liberty this past season.

The money reportedly goes to the Pat Riley Foundation, so the Heat's president didn't suffer a personal loss. Still, we are now 23 years away from our last three-peat, and at least two seasons away from our next one. Somewhere, Byron Scott is probably smiling.