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New Rays, Bucs Specialty License Plates Available

Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles

This is the new design for the Buccaneers' license plate. Sales of Bucs plates number 31,267 so far this year, compared with 39,966 in 2007.

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By DENNIS JOYCE

The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 4, 2008

Updated: 12/04/2008 03:11 pm

New Rays and Buccaneers specialty license plates are on sale today through some Hillsborough County tax collector's offices and will be available statewide by next week.

The new Rays plate drops the word "Devil," as most other references to the team already had. The owners changed the name -- before the start of latest season -- to focus on the rays of the sun instead of the marine creature.

Changing a specialty plate is expensive for the teams, in part because they must buy up remaining inventory of old plates from the state before a new plate is issued, said Christy Peacock, a director with the Florida Sports Foundation in Tallahassee.

"Every team wants to change their tag; they've all talked about it in the last three years,'" said Peacock, whose foundation is a private nonprofit corporation that contracts with the state as its official sports promotion agency.

"These are the first two that have actually gone through with it."

The process takes about six months from design to issue and includes review by a special state panel, the state Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, the Florida Highway Patrol and Major League Baseball or the National Football League.

So far in 2008, 1,192 Tampa Bay Devil Rays plates have been sold, compared with 1,283 for 2007, according to the motor vehicles department.

Sales of Buccaneers plates number 31,267 so far this year, compared with 39,966 in 2007.

By comparison, sales this year of Florida Marlins plates total 2,479, with Miami Dolphins plates sales at 17,848.

The plates cost $25 per year, in addition to vehicle registration fees. Proceeds are split 55 percent-45 percent between the state's Professional Sports Development Trust Fund and the Florida Sports Foundation.

Some of the money is used for economic development, to promote sporting events that bring out-of-state dollars to Florida, and some for team charities including the Bucs' Glazer Family Foundation and the Rays of Hope.

The new plates are being delivered today to the seven offices of the Hillsborough County tax collector and are available at the Fred B. Karl County Center, downtown at 601 E. Kennedy Blvd. The other local offices will have them Friday.

Editor Dennis Joyce can be reached at (813) 259-7604 or djoyce@tampatrib.com.

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