Vice City IRL · Updated October 4, 2026
Miami Is Becoming
Vice City
A lit rooftop sign, a Vice City basketball night, giant banners and branded beach chairs. Here's what's real, what's approved and what's still only talk.
Where to See It
The Takeover Map
- Installed Sept 22'Welcome to Vice City' roof sign
Kaseya Center, 601 Biscayne Blvd. First shown lit Oct 1, with no published nightly schedule. Under reported terms it stays until about Sept 22, 2027 · Installed Sept 22 - Confirmed'A Night in Vice City' Heat game
Kaseya Center. Heat vs. Bucks in Vice City uniforms on a Vice City court, 7 p.m., on ESPN · Confirmed · Nov 18 - ApprovedGiant GTA VI banner zone
Downtown: NE 5th St, the river, the bay and NE 2nd Ave · Approved · Oct 15 – Dec 31 - Negotiating'Vice City' beach chairs & umbrellas
Miami Beach concession beaches. The Sept 10 vote only authorized talks; no signed deal reported as of Oct 3 · Negotiating · Oct 15 – Dec 31 - Proposed'Vice City Airport' rebrand
Miami International Airport · Proposed, not approved - ProposedPortMiami mural
Proposed in the county pitch deck · Proposed, not approved - ProposedRickenbacker Beach photo-op
Proposed in the county pitch deck · Proposed, not approved - ProposedCar-culture festival
Tropical Park (proposed) · Proposed, not approved
See the sign on Downtown Heat. It rolls past the Kaseya Center at blue hour.
Timeline
How It Happened
- Jun 29
County sends Rockstar a 19-page "Vice City" pitch deck
Wrapped plane at MIA, Metromover wraps, custom manhole covers, a PortMiami mural, a Rickenbacker Beach photo-op and a car festival at Tropical Park.
The Miamian ↗ - Aug 28
A temporary 'Vice City Airport' rebrand is floated
Local 10 obtains the proposal, which also includes Vice City manhole covers. The county says nothing is approved.
Local 10 ↗ - Sep 3
The sheriff and a commissioner push back
Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz and Commissioner Juan Carlos Bermudez oppose using public assets to promote the game. The chief judge asks that courthouses be excluded.
NBC 6 ↗ - Sep 10
Miami Beach votes 4-3 to negotiate
Discreet 'Vice City' or 'VI' branding on privately run beach chairs and umbrellas from mid-October to year's end, skipping Art Basel week. The city hopes for $3–4 million. Commissioners authorized talks, not a final contract.
GTA BOOM ↗ - Sep 11
Governor DeSantis: "Buyer, beware"
The governor tells visitors not to expect the game's crime-soaked Miami in real life.
Florida Politics ↗ - Sep 18
The county signed a deal worth nearly $1M
Commissioners learn the mayor signed a deal for a 'Welcome to Vice City' sign on the Kaseya Center. The money is earmarked for the park behind the arena.
WLRN ↗ - Sep 22
The letters go up
A helicopter lifts pink-and-white 'Welcome to Vice City' letters onto the Kaseya Center roof. Some travelers flying into MIA will be able to see it from above.
Local 10 ↗ - Sep 24
Deal terms emerge: $975,000, and the sign stays into 2027
gHacks, citing the Miami Herald, reports the county collects $975,000. Drawing on GamesRadar, it reports the sign must stay until the later of one year after install or the Heat's last home game of 2026-27 (April 11, 2027). That works out to about Sept 22, 2027. These are reported terms; the agreement itself has not been published.
gHacks ↗ - Sep 24
City of Miami adopts the giant downtown banner ordinance
Ordinance 14490 passed first reading Sept 10 and was adopted 5-0 on Sept 24. Banners over 5,000 sq ft cost a $208,000 application fee, can stay up no more than 56 consecutive days between Oct 15 and Dec 31, and need Take-Two approval. Net proceeds go to one project: the Rev. Edward T. Graham Greenway, better known as the Underdeck, in Overtown.
City of Miami ↗ - Oct 1
The sign lights up
The finished 'Welcome to Vice City' display is first shown lit, in CBS Miami video posted that morning. No nightly lighting schedule has been published. The Heat date their Rockstar partnership to the Oct 1 lighting.
CBS Miami ↗ - Oct 2
The Heat announce 'A Night in Vice City'
The Heat will play the Bucks on Nov 18 as 'Vice City', with a new court, an all-new uniform and fan activations. A Vice City clothing collection is already in the team store.
Axios Miami ↗ - Oct 15
Earliest date for downtown banners
The earliest date GTA VI banners may go up under Ordinance 14490. Each banner still needs a city permit and Take-Two approval. Miami Beach chair branding depends on talks that were still under way.
City of Miami ↗ - Nov 12
- Nov 18
A Night in Vice City at the Kaseya Center
Heat vs. Bucks, 7 p.m. tip-off. The team plays on a custom court in a uniform it has never worn, the night before launch.
Hoodline ↗ - Nov 19
- Dec 31
The promo windows close
Downtown banners must be down by Dec 31. Under terms reported by gHacks, drawing on GamesRadar, the Kaseya sign stays until the later of one year after install or April 11, 2027: about Sept 22, 2027. The agreement itself has not been published.
gHacks ↗
All figures come from the linked local reporting. More coverage is on the Newswire.
