Pacers approved to have their own license plate

Indiana residents can proudly promote the 500 Festival, Indiana Golf Foundation, Indiana Soccer, or the Indianapolis Colts as they drive around, but there has not been a license plate available to support the Pacers … until now.

One week ago, on Sept. 16, Pacers Sports & Entertainment was thrilled to learn that they had been approved for an organizational license plate.

The cost for the new Pacers plate is $25, or $40, which includes an administrative fee, if you are due to renew your current plate.

$25 from every plate will go directly to the Pacers Foundation, which has awarded more than $7 million to help improve “the lives of Indiana’s young people by building individual and corporate partnerships that will provide assistance for projects that benefit Indiana’s youth.”

[More from the BMV on organizational license plates]

This has been in the works since last spring. By the first of April, the Pacers had to file an application with the General Assembly’s Roads and Transportation Committee. According to a Bureau of Motor Vehicles spokesman, the committee considered eight applications and granted approval to five — the maximum allowed — including the Pacers Foundation.

The plates won’t be available anytime soon. The Pacers have not yet submitted a design for approval. They were given parameters to follow, including certain colors they are allowed to use.

UPDATE: Nov. 1 — The Pacers’ design has been approved by the Indiana BMV and can be seen at the top of the page.

The plan is for this specialty plate — expected to be available on January 1, 2017 — to feature a Pacers logo, plus the text “Pacers Foundation” at the bottom.

The Pacers Foundation’s two primary fundraising events are the annual golf outing, which took place on Wednesday, and the Masquerade, where Quinn Buckner will be honored at this year’s event on Oct. 21.

Examples of other sports plates available in Indiana:

[Photos via Indiana BMV]