Tampa Bay Rays

Traditional TMs
Written by Justin Powley
Cartoon stick figure wearing a Tampa Bay Rays cap and holding a baseball bat opposite a devil ray fish and next to a chalkboard reading “Rays” with a trophy — representing a blog post about trademarks in the 2026 World Series.

Trademark: Rays

First Used: 1998

First Registered: 1999

Current Owner: RAYS BASEBALL CLUB, LLC [1]

Trademark Type: traditional trademark; word mark; design mark

Primarily Associated With: entertainment services in the nature of professional baseball games and exhibitions [2]

Brief (and likely incomplete) History [3]:

Congratulations to the Milwaukee Brewers and the Tampa Bay Rays for advancing to the 2026 World Series! This week we will be highlighting some World Series related trademark registrations, including those owned by Major League Baseball, the Brewers (and its Famous Racing Sausages), and Rays. Good luck Tampa Bay!

The Tampa Bay Rays franchise was established in 1995 after nearly two decades of efforts to bring Major League Baseball to the Tampa Bay area. Local officials had unsuccessfully pursued the relocation of several existing franchises, including the Chicago White Sox and San Francisco Giants, and even constructed the Suncoast Dome in St. Petersburg in 1990 in hopes of attracting a team. Their efforts finally paid off on March 9, 1995, when Major League Baseball awarded an expansion franchise to a local ownership group led by businessman Vince Naimoli, alongside the Arizona Diamondbacks. The team adopted the name "Tampa Bay Devil Rays," a reference to the marine creatures found in local waters, only after their original choice (“Sting Rays”) was unavailable due to a third-party trademark registration (MAUI STING RAYS, abandoned in 2003). The team began play in 1998 at Tropicana Field (formerly the Suncoast Dome). The Devil Rays made their Major League debut on March 31, 1998, losing 11–6 to the Detroit Tigers.

The Devil Rays struggled throughout their first decade, finishing last in the American League East in nine of their first ten seasons and never winning more than 70 games in a single season. Following a change in ownership, the franchise underwent a major rebranding ahead of the 2008 season, dropping "Devil" from its name and introducing a new navy blue and light blue identity. The shortened name "Rays" was intended to evoke Florida's sunshine rather than exclusively reference the marine animal, although the team retained the ray as a secondary symbol. The rebranding coincided with a remarkable turnaround on the field, as the Rays won 97 games in 2008, captured their first American League pennant, and advanced to the World Series, where they fell to the Philadelphia Phillies. Since then, Tampa Bay has established itself as a competitive franchise, returning to the World Series in 2020 and regularly contending for postseason appearances despite operating with one of baseball's smaller payrolls.

The team owns numerous federal trademark registrations protecting their team names, logos, and other branding elements. These include word mark registrations for RAYS® [4] and TAMPA BAY RAYS® [5] in connection with professional baseball entertainment services, as well as the original DEVIL RAYS® [6] name for clothing, toys, sporting goods, and other merchandise. Despite dropping "Devil" from the team's name in 2008, the franchise continues to maintain registrations for its original name. The team also owns registrations for RAYS UP® [7], its popular rallying cry among fans.

The team's original branding prominently featured the devil ray, which appeared in several registered designs. The Devil Ray Logo [8] features a stylized devil ray, while the Tampa Bay Devil Rays Logo [9] incorporates the team's original name and a devil ray design. The team also registered the TB Devil Ray Logo [10], combining the letters "TB" with a devil ray, for use on clothing, toys, and other merchandise. In the years leading up to its 2008 rebranding, the team introduced the Rays Devil Ray Logo [11], featuring the word "RAYS" in stylized lettering with a devil ray incorporated into the design.

The team's 2008 rebranding introduced a new visual identity centered on rays of sunshine rather than the marine animal. The Rays Diamond Logo [12] features the word "RAYS" with a sunburst accent, positioned over a baseball diamond. The team also registered the Rays Sunburst Logo [13], featuring the same stylized lettering and sunburst without the diamond background. Additional registrations protect the standalone Sunburst Logo [14], as well as the stylized letters "TB" in the TB Logo [15] and the stylized Tampa Bay Logo [16]. Collectively, these registrations protect the franchise's evolving identity across baseball entertainment services, clothing, sporting goods, and other merchandise.

Interested in matchups from other years? Check out our posts on the 2024 World Series, featuring the champion Los Angeles Dodgers against the New York Yankees, and the 2025 World Series, featuring the back-to-back champion Dodgers against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Interested in learning more about other 2026 sporting events? Check out our 2026 posts on the College Football National Championship, Team USA in the Winter Olympics, Super Bowl, Final Four, Masters (including the Masters 12th Hole and Masters Green Jacket), Stanley Cup, NBA Finals, World Cup, and WNBA Finals.

Copyright © 2026 by Illustrated IP, LLC. All rights reserved.

[1] Tampa Bay Rays, MLB, https://www.mlb.com/rays.

[2] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 2,247,891, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=74627891&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[3] Tampa Bay Rays Team History & Encyclopedia, BASEBALL REFERENCE, available at https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/TBD/index.shtml; Franchise Timeline – Rays Up, MLB, available at https://www.mlb.com/rays/history/timeline; Tampa Bay Rays, BASEBALL ALMANAC, available at https://www.baseball-almanac.com/teams/rays.shtml; How The Devil Rays Came to Tampa Bay, SOCIETY FOR AMERICAN BASEBALL RESEARCH, published in 2018, and available at https://sabr.org/journal/article/how-the-devil-rays-came-to-tampa-bay/.

[4] Id. at 2.

[5] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 2,247,891, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=78731754&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[6] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 2,239,084, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=74627634&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch; USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 2,229,675, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=75977917&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch; USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 2,438,682, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=74643178&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[7] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 8,490,156, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=99545326&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch; USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 8,490,155, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=99545289&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[8] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 2,261,267, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=74643177&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch; USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 2,575,561, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=76146053&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch; USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 2,546,656, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=76158605&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[9] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 2,345,822, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=74643176&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch; USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 2,546,657, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=76158606&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch; USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 2,527,310, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=76205517&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[10] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 2,575,580, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=76151373&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch; USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 2,546,658, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=76158608&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch; USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 2,569,777, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=76213547&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[11] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 3,420,785, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=78979922&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch; USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 3,424,809, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=78980021&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch; USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 3,747,816, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=78750615&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch; USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 3,420,787, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=78979926&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[12] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 3,768,557, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=77580230&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[13] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 3,745,290, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=77580227&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[14] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 3,828,960, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=77580233&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch; USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 4,045,827, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=77697969&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch; USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 4,139,419, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=77697981&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch; USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 4,139,420, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=77697985&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch; USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 3,794,580, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=77697991&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[15] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 3,768,556, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=77580191&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=documentSearch.

[16] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 3,931,148, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=85102262&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

Justin Powley
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Famous Racing Sausages