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Miami-Dade sheriff and commissioner oppose proposed GTA 6 marketing deal

The June 29 pitch included Vice City branding at airports and transit stations, a Tropical Park event and a creative media lab, but no agreement has been approved.

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A plane flies above a large Vice City sign at sunset in Grand Theft Auto VI artwork.

Miami-Dade County’s sheriff and one commissioner are opposing a proposed Grand Theft Auto 6 marketing partnership that could temporarily turn county facilities into Vice City attractions. No agreement with Rockstar Games has been approved.

County officials submitted a pitch deck to Rockstar on June 29 and later held conversations about possible opportunities around the game’s launch. Carlos Suarez, a spokesperson for Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, said there had been “some conversations with Rockstar about potential opportunities around the launch of GTA 6,” but added that “nothing has been formally agreed to or approved.” Any proposal would still need to pass the county’s appropriate review process.

Miami-Dade’s pitch goes beyond station ads

At Miami International Airport, the package proposed billboards, signs reading “Welcome to Vice City,” a display aircraft wrapped in Vice City logos and a Grand Theft Auto 6-inspired baggage claim. It also included a Grand Theft Auto VI wrap for Miami’s Metromover train system.

Vice City signs and colors could appear at Metromover and Metrorail stations, while PortMiami could receive Vice City-inspired public art. The pitch also proposed a family-appropriate Miami car culture celebration at Tropical Park with cars, bikes, DJs, food, artists and branded installations.

A separate idea would create a Vice City Radio Lab at Miami’s main library. The space would offer recording, editing and digital media equipment for music production, podcasting, oral histories, neighborhood storytelling, sound engineering, video game development and other creative programs connected to the role of music and radio in Grand Theft Auto.

Although much of the campaign would be temporary, the pitch asked Rockstar to fund permanent county infrastructure upgrades. One page proposed a sunset installation at Rickenbacker Beach with public art and improvements intended to make the waterfront more useful for residents.

Pitch deck page proposing a sunset Vice City installation at Rickenbacker Beach — Image credit: Miami-Dade County

Officials object to Vice City crime branding

Republican Miami-Dade County Commissioner Juan Carlos Bermudez and Republican Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz have both spoken against the proposal in an official county statement. Bermudez said Miami-Dade should promote “the Miami-Dade we have worked so hard to build,” rather than a fictional version defined by crime and violence.

Bermudez also told WSVN that he was “not against video games,” but considered the proposed promotion “nonsensical” because he believes it would glorify violence against first responders, pedestrians and residents.

Cordero-Stutz focused on the contrast between the game’s themes and her department’s real-world work. She described Grand Theft Auto as a franchise built around criminal activity, including 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 day to prevent. In the county statement, she said, “At a time when law enforcement is working every day to reduce violent crime, prevent robberies and car thefts, combat drug trafficking, and build stronger relationships between our deputies and the communities we serve,” she said, “I believe we need to seriously consider the message we send when our own government promotes a fictional identity centered around many of those same crimes.”

Courthouses may be excluded even if the wider campaign moves forward. On September 3, 2026, Miami-Dade Clerk of the Court Juan Fernandez-Barquin and Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida Chief Judge Ariana Fajardo Orshan wrote to Levine Cava asking that all county courthouses and court-related facilities be left out of any GTA 6 marketing, branding or promotion.

The court officials argued that these facilities serve victims, defendants, witnesses, families, judges, attorneys, court staff and law enforcement professionals dealing with real legal consequences. “The individuals who enter our courthouses are not characters in a fictional world,” the letter said.

Miami-Dade’s clerk and chief judge on GTA marketing: Leave the courts out of it https://t.co/QFnMJO0vxS pic.twitter.com/kDd7GvAwFm

— Doug Hanks (@doug_hanks) September 3, 2026

Budget negotiations have added a political layer to the dispute. Cordero-Stutz and Levine Cava are seeking County Commission support for competing Sheriff’s Office funding proposals in the county’s 2027 budget. Cordero-Stutz wants a 12% tax-funded increase, while Levine Cava has proposed 6%. Bermudez is also viewed as a possible candidate to replace Levine Cava as mayor in 2028.

Rockstar Games’ participation remains unconfirmed, and the size of any proposed payment involving Take-Two Interactive and Rockstar Games has not been disclosed. With GTA 6’s marketing campaign building toward its scheduled November 19 launch, the Miami-Dade pitch is still only a proposal, and the county’s public opposition has arrived before any partnership could be approved.

Would you want to see Miami-Dade facilities used for a Vice City promotion, or should real-world civic spaces stay out of the campaign? Share your thoughts in the comments, and follow us on X, Bluesky, YouTube, Instagram, Steam and Telegram.

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