On 18 November, the night before GTA VI comes out, the Miami HEAT will play as “Vice City”. They host the Milwaukee Bucks at 7:00 PM ET at the Kaseya Center, on a court built for that one night and in a new uniform the team has not shown yet (Miami HEAT, official). ESPN carries it, and the team store is already selling a “Vice City” clothing collection, with shirts at $45 and $55 (Miami HEAT).
A sign on the arena roof
The game will be played under a sign that is already up: “Welcome to Vice City” in big pink letters on the roof of the Kaseya Center. It went up on 22 September and can be seen from planes landing at Miami International (CBS Miami); the letters were flown in by helicopter (GameSpot).
The building belongs to Miami-Dade County, and the deal with Rockstar was signed by the county mayor, Daniella Levine Cava, under her power to sign contracts under $1 million without a commission vote (WLRN). GameSpot puts Rockstar’s payment at $975,000 (GameSpot). The county says the money will go to a plot behind the arena that has long been promised for community use, such as a park (WLRN).
Banners downtown
The City of Miami, a separate government from the county, voted to let Rockstar pay for permits for banners larger than normally allowed. Commissioner Christine King said they will carry no graphic imagery, and the permit money will help fund a trail in Overtown (CBS Miami).
What has been spotted around town
Photos of more are going round on social media, and GameSpot has rounded them up: a Coquette, the series’ sports car, on Leonida plates; a Lamborghini in Vice Beach Police colours; a Vice City blimp over the city; and branded beach chairs and umbrellas on South Florida beaches. Ads have also turned up in Chicago and New York (GameSpot). Rockstar has announced none of these: they are sightings, not press releases, and we do not know how long they will last or where they will turn up next. That is also why they are not pictured here: the only photos are private people’s, and not ours to publish.
In Wynwood, Rockstar is also paying for county residents to get into the mural museum for free: that one is in the news.
Not everyone in the county agrees
Several Miami-Dade commissioners have objected. Juan Carlos Bermudez moved to hand the money to the Sheriff’s Office and, with Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz, had already rejected any deal with Rockstar, arguing the game glorifies crime; he withdrew the motion once the mayor’s office agreed to brief the commission. Oliver Gilbert III objected to chaining deals under $1 million so they never need a vote (WLRN). René García said the county was depicting Miami as a “murder capital”, the Miami Herald reported; commission chair Anthony Rodriguez answered that it is a work of fiction (GameSpot).
The mayor’s office wants more. Meetings with Rockstar covered renaming Miami International “Vice City Airport”, wrapping a Metromover train and decorating manhole covers (WLRN). None of it is approved: GameSpot says it remains to be seen whether the commission will allow it (GameSpot).
If you want to know what time you can start playing, it is in our release time guide.