Miami's real-world Vice City takeover has officiakl starterd and its first landmark? The Kaseya Center. The giant "Welcome to Vice City" sign promoting Grand Theft Auto VI is now up on the roof of the home of the Miami Heat after crews helicoptered it into place on September 22.
Workers built the pink-and-white letters in sections on the ground, then used helicopters to lift them onto the arena's waterfront roof that afternoon. The finished display runs about 4,700 square feet, carries GTA 6 branding and is big enough to read from the air, including for travelers flying into Miami International Airport.
Rockstar Games paid Miami-Dade County, which owns the arena, about $975,000 for the temporary placement, as reported by the Miami Herald. Because it came in under the $1 million mark, the mayor signed off without a full commission vote, which explains how speedy the entire process was as opposed to Rockstar's other advertising proposals. The county plans to put the money toward developing a park on county-owned land behind the arena.
Where Miami's four Vice City marketing efforts stand
Effort | Status |
|---|---|
Kaseya Center rooftop sign | Installed September 22, the first one finished |
Miami Beach beach-chair branding | Approved for negotiation, not yet finalized |
Downtown Miami banners | Permits enabled for private property owners |
Wider Miami-Dade activations | Still in talks, facing political pushback |
The Kaseya sign is the first of Miami's four GTA 6 marketing efforts to actually go up.
The sign is the first of Miami's four separate Vice City marketing efforts to actually go up. This one, the county arena deal, moved fastest because it was small and direct. The others are further back and are most likely subject to several changes. Miami Beach only voted to start negotiating beach-chair branding, the City of Miami opened the door to private downtown banner and the wider county pitch for airport and transit takeovers is still stuck in talks.
While Grand Theft Auto fans are happy that the ball is finally rolling, some Miami-Dade commissioners continue to push back on tying the county to a game known for its violence, including toward police in past entries, while the mayor's office has leaned on the economic and cultural upside.
As we've already mentioned, the arena deal sidestepped most of that fight by staying small enough to skip a commission vote.
Unfortunately, the sign is only temporary, reportedly up through at least the Heat's 2026-27 season, but it is the biggest and most visible of the bunch.
Given how much traction it is expected to generate going forward, we can expect to see more GTA 6 signs plastered all over Miami before the game arrives on November 19.