Dave Alford has been around rodeo nearly his entire life. Now 68 years old, Alford, the general manager of Rodeo Scottsdale, was instrumental in the creation of the Arizona Rodeo specialty license plate.

While Alford expects many rodeo fans to get the specialty plate, he expects many might order more than one Arizona Rodeo plate.

“From fans to contestants, there are many people that will get this plate and they’ll all be helping a good cause,” he said. “And rodeo people haul a lot of things. I’ve already heard from people who say they’re going to put the rodeo plate on their trailers.”

The Arizona Rodeo specialty plate, which became available in December 2021, costs $25 upon initial application and $17 from each plate goes to promote, educate and preserve the history of rodeo in Arizona. And there’s a lot of rodeo history in Arizona. Alford pointed out that the two oldest rodeos in the world -- Payson’s World’s Oldest Continuous Rodeo and Prescott’s World’s Oldest Rodeo -- are in Arizona, and rodeos in Scottsdale, Tucson and Yuma have occurred for nearly a combined 250 years.

“There’s a lot of history of rodeo in Arizona and we wanted to put it on a license plate and share it,” said Dave Alford, general manager of Rodeo Scottsdale. “From fans to contestants, there are many people that will get this plate and they’ll all be helping a good cause.”

To view and order any specialty plate, visit azmvdnow.gov. Most specialty plates cost $25 upon initial application, of which $17 goes to a designated charitable organization. Personalization can be added for an additional $25 per year.

Specialty plates are authorized by the Arizona legislature and have been offered since 1989. Authorized plate designs complete a review by ADOT and law enforcement. In all, there are more than 80 license plate options for Arizona motorists.

Helping more veterans and their communities: That's the goal of two new specialty plates for Veterans of Foreign Wars and Veterans of Foreign Wars Arizona Auxiliary. These plates were among 15 that new specialty plates that became available for purchase in December.

Proceeds from sales of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) plate, according to past state commander Tom Judd, will pay for more service officers, who help veterans get benefits they've earned.

The idea for a VFW-specific plate, Judd said, first came in 2019 after he bought a different specialty plate for veterans. During a VFW budget meeting not long after, someone floated the idea of a VFW-specific plate.

"We thought, 'Hey, we sure could use $17 of every plate sale,'" Judd said. "We have 23,000 members. If just half of them purchased a VFW plate, that's thousands more dollars available for service officers throughout Arizona."

"There are 600,000 veterans in Arizona," he added, "and we have three service officers for the state. We'd like to have at least one in Flagstaff, Kingman, Yuma and Tucson."

Around the same time, the first steps toward creating a VFW  Auxuliary Arizona specialty plate were occurring. Melody Judd, VFW Auxiliary Department of Arizona Program Coordinator and past president, said that she's grateful this plate is now available. Proceeds from the specialty plate will help to provide many services for veterans and their families.

"For example, the VFW Auxiliary provides high-school seniors with scholarships; we also put on homecomings and sendoffs for military members and their families," Judd said. "Proceeds from plate sales could increase the amounts we can budget for those. The VFW Auxiliary also does community outreach with other groups. Proceeds from plate sales will also increase the amount we can give to those efforts."

To view and order any specialty plate, visit azmvdnow.gov. Most specialty plates cost $25 upon initial application, of which $17 goes to a designated charitable organization. Personalization can be added for an additional $25 per year.

The numbers are in and here’s a list of the top-10 most popular specialty license plates in Arizona for fiscal year 2021, which ran from July 1, 2020, to June 30, 2021.

1. Veterans
2. First Responders
3. Arizona Cardinals
4. Arizona Highways
5. Military Support/Freedom 
6. Arizona State University
7. Route 66
8. University of Arizona
9. Golden Rule
10. Fallen Police Officer

Placing a specialty license plate on your car can be a fun way to show off your fandom, interests and past experiences -- hello, veterans and alumni of various colleges. Did you know that specialty plates also raise money for charities in Arizona?

That’s right, for most speciality plates, $17 of the $25 initial application and annual renewal fees goes straight to charity. In fact, last year, the the Veterans, First Responder and Arizona Cardinals plates each generated more than $1 million in revenue.

To order a specialty plate and support a great cause, visit azmvdnow.gov, an MVD office or Authorized Third-Party office.

By Caroline Carpenter / ADOT Communications

Most people are surprised to learn ADOT’s Motor Vehicle Division doesn’t decide what specialty plates join its offerings. Those decisions are made by your elected state leaders. Each time we announce new specialty license plates are available, some ask us why certain organizations don’t have their own plates and offer suggestions for new specialty plates.

The first step is a bill authored by a state lawmaker proposing a specialty plate that in nearly every case supports a nonprofit group. If approved by both houses of the Arizona State Legislature, the bill calling for a specialty plate becomes law once signed by the governor.

Next, the nonprofit pays a $32,000 fee for the production and implementation of the new plate. The state doesn't cover any of costs of new specialty plates.

Then a mockup is designed and must be approved by law enforcement officials, the nonprofit and the MVD director.

Once all of these steps are completed, the new specialty license plates are made available to drivers through the MVD or online at AZ MVD Now. Specialty plates usually cost $25 per year, with $17 of that going to support the nonprofit sponsoring the plate.

The specialty plate selections can be viewed online and ordered.