A giant “Welcome to Vice City” sign now sits on the roof of the Kaseya Center in downtown Miami, home of the NBA’s Miami Heat. Rockstar Games put it there to promote Grand Theft Auto 6, and the letters were flown into place by helicopter before crews bolted them down.
Quick answer: Rockstar paid nearly $1 million for the sign, with Miami-Dade County set to collect $975,000 under a marketing agreement. It went up on September 22, 2026.
The “Welcome to Vice City” sign and what it cost
The installation happened on September 22, 2026. A crew lifted the pink-and-white lettering onto the arena roof by helicopter and secured it to the central section of the building. Because the Kaseya Center sits in downtown Miami, the sign reads clearly from the air, and passengers on flights landing at Miami International Airport get a direct view of it.
The deal centers on its price: Rockstar will pay slightly less than $1 million, while Miami-Dade County will receive $975,000 for the county-owned building.
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Sign text | “Welcome to Vice City” |
| Location | Roof of Kaseya Center, downtown Miami |
| Installed | September 22, 2026 |
| Cost to Rockstar | Nearly $1 million |
| County payment | $975,000 |
How long the sign stays up
The agreement requires the sign to stay installed for at least a year, and it cannot come down before the Miami Heat finish their 2026-27 home schedule. Their last home game is April 11, 2027, making around April 11, 2027 the latest likely removal date. The lettering should therefore be visible through late 2026 and into the following spring.
Key dates tied to the GTA 6 rollout
A few dates line up around the sign and the game’s launch. The agreement set an October 15 deadline for installation, and Rockstar has historically dropped GTA 6 news on Thursdays. The Heat’s first regular-season home game arrives on October 21, giving a nationally broadcast reason for cameras to catch the rooftop lettering. Grand Theft Auto 6 then releases on November 19.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| Sep 22, 2026 | Sign installed on Kaseya Center |
| Oct 15, 2026 | Installation deadline in the agreement |
| Oct 21, 2026 | Miami Heat home opener |
| Nov 19, 2026 | GTA 6 will be available on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S |
| ~Apr 11, 2027 | Latest sign removal date |
Why the Kaseya Center was chosen
The building fits the campaign because GTA 6 already borrows from it. In the game, the Kaseya Center appears as the Sahara Arena, home of the fictional Vice City Narcos basketball team. Sahara is Rockstar’s in-game version of Amazon. Placing a real “Welcome to Vice City” sign on the actual arena connects the fictional Miami of the game with the real skyline it draws from.
The controversy around the deal
Putting up the rooftop sign met with opposition. Several Miami-Dade officials objected to using public property to advertise a game focused on crime and violence. Local law enforcement also raised concerns. The Miami-Dade Sheriff turned down promotional partnerships and rejected a plan to label sections of Miami International Airport as “Vice City Airport,” citing the game’s portrayal of violence toward police.
How the money gets spent is also contested. Mayor Daniella Levine Cava wants the county’s share to fund a planned park near the arena, while a county commissioner argued the funds should go to the Sheriff’s Office. The city moved forward anyway, with commissioners approving oversized promotional banners and revenue earmarked toward a trail in Overtown.
The wider Miami campaign
The Kaseya Center sign is one piece of a larger push. Miami Beach narrowly approved a separate marketing deal in a four-to-three vote, clearing GTA 6 branding on beach chairs and umbrellas within a defined downtown Miami area, with those ads starting October 15. That arrangement is reportedly worth about $4 million to Rockstar, and banners larger than 5,000 square feet carry an additional application fee.
Earlier county discussions floated even more ambitious ideas, including wrapped aircraft at the airport, themed baggage carousels, transit takeovers, and a mural at PortMiami. Those concepts were never formally approved. For now, the rooftop sign is the clearest signal of how far Rockstar is willing to go, and with the Heat’s home opener and the November 19 launch still ahead, more of the campaign is likely to surface in the coming weeks.
