Manning plate fetches $10,305 as auction raises $104,370

INDIANAPOLIS Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. ? An Indianapolis Colts specialty state license plate with Peyton Manning’s number 18 was the top seller at $10,305 as an online auction brought in $104,370, toward the cost of building the team’s new 63,000-seat, retractable-roof stadium.

The three-week auction for 429 plate numbers ended Friday evening after drawing more than 5,700 bids.

“My sense is that it’s been fun for those who participated,” Gov. Mitch Daniels said shortly before bidding ended. “I think it’s provided a little extra fun in a season of great fun for Colts fans.”

A victory Sunday over San Diego would put the 2005 Colts alongside the 1972 Miami Dolphins as the only NFL teams ever to start 14-0. Manning was a star quarterback for Tennessee.

Bids for the “QB 18” Manning plate rose from $4,500 in the auction’s final hour Friday, said Marc Lotter, a Daniels spokesman.

Between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. Friday, the auction’s total value climbed $30,000.

Plate “WR 88,” for wide receiver Marvin Harrison, garnered $6,030. Six other numbers, including “GO 18,” “TD 18,” and “GO 88” ? all fetched bids above $1,000.

Starting bids were $25.

State officials said winners will receive e-mails by Saturday with payment instructions.

Remaining plates will go on sale Jan. 3 at Bureau of Motor Vehicles branches around Indiana, and will cost $35. More than half of the proceeds will go into the building fund for the stadium and an expansion of the Indiana Convention Center.

Construction of the $500 million stadium is expected to be finished by the start of the 2008 football season.

Once it is built, the convention center will be expanded onto the current site of the RCA Dome. That project is slated to be finished by 2010 at a cost of more than $400 million.

Indiana has 53 other specialty plates, and several states have them for professional sports teams.