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New Rays, Bucs License Plates Are Here

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By DENNIS JOYCE

The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 4, 2008

TAMPA - New Rays and Buccaneers specialty license plates are on sale today through 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 last 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 the 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.

The plates cost $25 per year, in addition to vehicle registration fees. The state's Professional Sports Development Trust Fund takes 55 percent of that extra fee, and the Florida Sports Foundation takes the other 45 percent.

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.

31,267:
Buccaneers plates have been sold this year, compared with 39,966 in 2007

1,192:
Tampa Bay Devil Rays plates have been sold this year, compared with 1,283 for 2007

17,848:
Miami Dolphins plates have been sold this year

2,479:
Florida Marlins plates have been sold this year

Editor Dennis Joyce can be reached at (813) 259-7604.

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