Grand Theft Auto signage appears to be headed to big venue in downtown Miami

Miami-Dade County admin September 12, 2026 0 Comments

Grand Theft Auto signage appears to be headed to big venue in downtown Miami

The coming release of Grand Theft Auto VI will be one of the biggest gaming events in the history of the medium. As the video game returns to the backdrop of Miami, hailing back to its “Vice City” roots, its local marketing has become a story of its own.

An increasingly entrenched battle is being waged as one sect of local politicians and residents sees the game, developed by Rockstar Games, as a monumental cash cow. According to Sensor Towers, a research group, GTA VI has made over $500 million in presales ahead of its November 19 release and is projected to make billions.

The Kaseya Center is beginning to prepare signage promoting the video game, residents and social-media influencers shared online. One X user captured possible installations of advertisements that read “Vice City,” which was the name of a previous installment in the GTA series and was meant to mirror Miami.

“They are getting [ready] to install the GTA VI signage on the Kaseya Center,” he said.

The game was a topic of discussion on Thursday at a Miami City Commission meeting. Commissioner Christine King initially had concerns about the latest installment of the controversial video-gaming series.

She now supports having large ads for the game throughout the city. The marketing blitz will also help support new projects, including the Rev. Edward T. Graham Heritage Trail, she said. The trail is a 33-acre open space in Overtown weaving below I-395. It’s planned to open in late 2027 with a project cost of about $82 million.

“This is a hugely popular video game and Miami Beach is on board and Miami-Dade County is onboard,” King said.

The commission voted in favor of granting permits to homeowner associations, which will decide whether to display GTA banners on their skyscrapers, the commission said. The proposed banners will not have the words Vice City or depictions of guns.

The Miami Beach City Commission voted on Thursday to have its city manager start the process of entering an agreement to advertise the game in the city. Exact details on what that campaign would look like were not said during the meeting.

Commissioners noted that the city would stand to gain about $4 million, which would help pay for the Flamingo Football Stadium renovation project slated to begin next year but is not yet funded.

“[The football field] is of vital importance to families all over the city, not just one neighborhood. It is an enormous part of who we are, it is the heart of our city,” said Commissioner Tanya Bhatt. “We have had other movies come in and do marketing events and no one has batted an eyelash.”

Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava met with GTA executives to discuss possible advertisement campaigns including:

Having parts of Miami International Airport pretend to be the Vice City airport.
A Metromover train wrapped in Vice City graphics
Manhole covers that would be designed to incorporate Vice City themes

READ MORE: Grand Theft Miami-Dade: County pitches ‘Vice City’ marketing deal for video game

Everyone isn’t open to the idea of GTA being advertised throughout the Miami area.

“Grand Theft Auto is a video game franchise built around criminal activity,” Miami-Dade Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz said in a statement. “Its fictional world includes murder, robbery, drug trafficking, carjacking, violence against law enforcement, and other conduct that the men and women of the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office work every single day to prevent.”

A spokesperson for the Miami Heat declined to comment on the team’s arena being used to promote the game. It’s unclear if the decision to use the county-owned arena would be up to the Heat or Miami-Dade officials.

Since its 2013 release, Rockstar Games’ previous title, GTA V, has sold 230 million copies worldwide and made over $10 billion, some reports say. The game is known for its crime-riddled plot lines, which allow players to engage in digital debauchery, including robberies, prostitution, drug-dealing and mass murder.