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Gators, Dolphins, Panthers Tops In Specialty Plates

Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles

Proceeds from the Gator-themed plate support academics at the University of Florida.

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By DENNIS JOYCE

The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 12, 2009

TAMPA - The University of Florida Gators, fresh from their second national football championship in three years, have now solidified their dominance of the Sunshine State: They top the list of 110 specialty license plates available in 2008.

It's the third year in a row at No. 1 for the Gator plate, which features a green alligator head above the words "Gator Nation" and blue-and-orange accents. The year in the middle, 2007, when Louisiana State University won college football's BCS championship, didn't seem to hurt Gator plate sales any.

In 2006, the University of Florida plate toppled the defending champ, "Protect The Panther," and has never looked back.

The panther plate, which also enjoyed three years at No. 1, slipped behind "Protect Wild Dolphins" in 2008 and now ranks No. 3. Plates benefiting environmental causes, though, accounted for half the 10 top sellers in 2008. The other causes: sea turtles at No. 4, manatees at No. 6 and reefs at No. 7.

Rounding out the Top 10 list are the Florida State University Seminoles at No. 5, the U.S. Marine Corps at No. 8, the message "Choose Life" at No. 9, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at No. 10.

None of the plates came close to the University of Florida's numbers, though. They have grown from 90,436 in 2006 to 113,563 in 2008, according to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. The Gators also won a couple of NCAA titles in recent years.

In 2008, the second-place wild dolphin plate was a distant 80,797.

All told, Florida has 1.63 million specialty plates in use.

Most of the plates cost $25 a year over and above the normal cost of vehicle registration. The fee varies, though. The sea turtle plate is $23 a year extra and the Marine Corps plate is $15, for example.
Most of the proceeds, more than $33 million in 2007, go for charitable causes. Gator plate money goes to the University of Florida for academic enhancement, environmental plates benefit the cause or species featured, and pro sports plates are divided between sports development and a community charity.

More fun with numbers from the 2008 data:

Pinellas is greener. A look at the Top 5 plates by county shows Pinellas has more of an environmental bent than Hillsborough, though both made the Bucs No. 1. Rounding out the Hillsborough list: the University of Florida, University of South Florida, Florida State University and Protect the Panther.

And the rest in Pinellas: wild dolphins, University of Florida, manatees and sea turtles.

Pasco and Polk, too. The Top 5 in Pasco were the Bucs, wild dolphins, University of Florida, panthers and manatee. In Polk, it was University of Florida, Florida State, panthers, Bucs and manatees.

Creatures and teams. Wild dolphins outsold Miami's football Dolphins nearly 4-1, and the endangered panther outsold Broward County's hockey variety 27-1. Nine pro sports teams have specialty plates.

The top sellers: Bucs, Dolphins, NBA's Miami Heat, NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars and hockey's Tampa Bay Lightning. One Floridian, in Miami-Dade, has a Tampa Bay Storm plate, though the arena football team is on hiatus this season.

Semper Fi. The Marines may be the smallest of the major service branches, but they remain always faithful on their license plates. Marine plates outnumber plates commemorating the biggest service branch, the Army, by nearly 2-1. The Air Force is No. 3 and the Navy No. 4. Hillsborough has more Army plates than any of Florida's 67 counties, beating out Orange by one and Miami-Dade by seven.

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

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