Miami-Dade signs a $3.9 million GTA 6 deal with Rockstar: lights at the airport and PortMiami, and no commission vote

Miami-Dade County has signed on to promote GTA 6. Mayor Daniella Levine Cava announced on Oct. 28 a marketing and advertising package with Rockstar Games that the county values at $3.9 million, three weeks before the game comes out on Nov. 19. It brings Vice City to Miami International Airport, PortMiami and traffic signal boxes across the county, and it went ahead without the County Commission vote our Oct. 20 story was waiting on.

"With millions of people around the world waiting for this release, we have an opportunity to make sure Miami-Dade benefits from that attention," Levine Cava said in the county's announcement.

What's in the package

According to the county:

• Themed lighting at the airport and at PortMiami.
• Displays on the walkways that connect the airport's parking garages to its terminals.
• Decorative wraps on selected traffic signal cabinets around the county.
• Ads Rockstar bought through the two media companies that manage advertising space at the airport and for the county's Department of Transportation and Public Works.
• The "Welcome to Vice City" sign on the roof of the county-owned Kaseya Center, part of an earlier $975,000 arrangement now counted in the package. Our story on the Kaseya Center's Burger Shot and Cluckin' Bell stands has more on the arena.

Rockstar pays to install, maintain and remove everything, and the designs still need the county's approval under its content guidelines. The county has put the money toward the long-awaited public park at Dan Paul Plaza, behind the arena, a project WLRN says has been stuck for more than 30 years. Rockstar approached the administration about the partnership, the mayor's office told WLRN.

There's no "Vice City Airport." A county pitch to Rockstar in June had floated a "Vice City Airport" arrival experience; the package the county announced brings themed lighting and walkway displays to the airport instead of a new name.

No vote by the commission

Several commissioners raised concerns that Levine Cava's administration made the agreements without putting them to a vote of the full commission, WLRN reports. Commissioners were expected to vote on Oct. 20 on whether the mayor's talks with Rockstar could go on, but the county's record of that meeting lists no such item, as our earlier story found.

A county deal worth more than $1 million needs the commission's approval, as our Oct. 20 story explains. The county's announcement doesn't say how the $3.9 million splits between its own agreement with Rockstar and the ad space Rockstar bought through the two media companies.

The game's critics on the county's side haven't changed their minds. Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz and Commissioner Juan Carlos Bermudez have opposed the mayor's embrace of the game since September, because it features crime and violence against police officers, WLRN notes. Their Sept. 3 statement ended: "Miami-Dade County is not Vice City."

Miami and Miami Beach have their own deals

The county's package joins arrangements the cities of Miami and Miami Beach have already made with Rockstar: temporary promotional banners in Downtown Miami and advertising on beach concession equipment in Miami Beach, the county says. Around town, Rockstar's campaign also includes:

• the Wynwood Walls murals;
• the fake-brand billboards;
• a Little Haiti block party;
• the Miami HEAT's Night in Vice City on Nov. 18.

Downtown club E11EVEN is also holding its own NINE1NINE night on Nov. 6.

What we don't know

• When the lights and wraps go up, and how long they stay. The county hasn't given dates.
• The county's own share of the $3.9 million.
• Whether commissioners will take it up at a meeting.

We'll check on the installations by launch day. GTA 6 comes out Nov. 19 on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, and our Vice City guide covers the game's version of the city.