Prairie State Wire

In the Land of Lincoln, Chicago White Sox fans outnumber Chicago Cubs fans by almost 6 to 1, based on a review of personalized and vanity plates purchased by vehicle owners in Illinois in 2023.

Those displaying affinity for the White Sox (61-101 last year) represent approximately 7.5% of the more than 56,000 specialty plates issued by the state, with a total of 4,206. 

While personalized plates can sometimes be cryptic, these White Sox plates seem to be sending straightforward messages about the owner's personality or identity: 

SILLY-WS

FUNNY-WS

WEIRD-WS

KRZY-WS

EVIL-WS

EERIE-WS

CRUEL-WS

BLEAK-WS

LAZY1-WS

TAX-WS

LWYER-WS

CIA-WS

SLUMP-WS

OINKK-WS

UFCKO-WS

NOTME-WS

METH-WS

NVRMD-WS

ZZZ3-WS

Plates for Cubs (83-79 last year) represent just 1.3% of the total at 741, including motorcycle plates:

LUVRS-CC

FUN44-CC

GOLFN-CC

KICKS-CC

DOGS-CC

SPEED-CC

SNAIL-CC

PANIC-CC

CHILL-CC

ERNEB-CC

BULLY-CC

MC-ADHDCC

MC-UFOCC

The third baseball fanbase in Illinois - the St. Louis Cardinals (71-91 in 2023, last place in NL Central) - comes in third place in specialty places at 395, or .06% of total:

NOCUB-STL

SEXY-STL

DUDE-STL

BUCK1-STL

WOOO-STL

KRZY6-STL

GRANY-STL

PAPAW-STL

CANDY-STL

DUCKY-STL

GOODY-STL

Overall, baseball fans by far outnumber professional football, hockey and basketball specialty plate owners 5,342 to 2,214, or approximately 2.5 to 1.

A sampling of Blackhawks plates (776 vehicle, 54 motorcycle):

SEXY-BH

MC-SEXYBH

FOXXY-BH

GIDDY-BH

DUMPD-BH

SLIME-BH

PYRO-BH

FURY1-BH

LAWYR-BH

GAME-BH

Bears plates (715 vehicle, 35 motorcycle):

LUVIT-BD

ZOOOM-BD

GUMBY-BD

OHWEL-BD

BUZRD-BD

ZZZ2-BD

Bulls plates (612 vehicle, 20 motorcycle):

LITT-BU

TACO-BU

TACOS-BU

LOVEU-BU

THX23-BU

PIPIN-BU

QUIET-BU

CHIGO-BU

MOUSE-BU

FROG-BU

FAKEM-BU

GNRLY-BU

Illinois vehicle owners have a myriad of options to personalize their plates, among 11 categories. One of the biggest categories - military series - has 53 types to choose from including the service branches, Afghanistan, Ex-POW, Cold War, Gold Star, Iraq, Korean War and Operation Desert Storm.  

Information for this article was provided by the Illinois Secretary of State through a Freedom of Information Act request.