Rockstar Games will get to keep a “Welcome to Vice City” sign standing at the Kaseya Center after Mayor Daniella Levine Cava approved the arrangement in a Friday agreement. That’s according to BroBible. The deal fell under a spending authority that lets the mayor approve contracts on her own when the total stays below one million dollars, sparing it from a required county board vote.
Rockstar is paying $975K for the arrangement, Miami Herald reporter Doug Hanks reported, a figure that reportedly lands $25K short of the threshold that would have triggered a commission vote. That money is earmarked to help develop Dan Paul Plaza, a county-owned waterfront park behind the arena, according to Local10.
Commissioner Oliver Gilbert III raised concerns that the mayor’s office might structure multiple smaller agreements with Rockstar specifically to stay under the board-approval threshold. “I do not agree that you can do $900,000 for this, and $700,000 for this, and $400,000 for this, and because you did different agreements, then you don’t have to come before the board,” Gilbert said.
Commissioners themselves are split on the deal
“You could just go back to the same vendor for spending authority limitations, and you could just do smaller purchases every time. That wouldn’t make sense.” Mayor Levine Cava’s chief of staff, Christopher Hudtwalcker, told commissioners the county was already in talks with Rockstar about signs at other county properties. He called the campaign “the biggest cultural phenomena of the year.”
Several commissioners said they hadn’t known about the agreement before it came up during a budget hearing. Commissioner Natalie Milian Orbis said she “would’ve appreciated more information.” Commissioner Juan Carlos Bermudez moved to redirect the sign revenue to the Sheriff’s Office instead, citing the game’s violent premise. Commissioner Keon Hardemon defended the arrangement as a rare opportunity for global exposure for the county. The board ultimately let the deal stand.
Miami-Dade’s procurement rules, set out in County Code Section 2-8.1, delegate a specific dollar threshold to the mayor for awarding purchases and contracts without board approval. Anything above that threshold requires a commission vote. Separately, Miami-Dade Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz and Commissioner Bermudez, the same commissioner who moved to redirect the sign deal’s revenue, jointly objected to an unrelated, broader pitch the county had earlier submitted to Rockstar.
She called GTA “a videogame franchise built around criminal activity,” according to PC Gamer. The outlet quoted mayoral spokesperson Carlos Suarez saying nothing had been formally agreed to on that front. The sign lands roughly two months ahead of Grand Theft Auto VI’s official release. Rockstar has set the game’s launch for Nov. 19, after two earlier delays pushed it back from an original 2025 window.
The game is set in the fictional state of Leonida, modeled on Florida, with Vice City itself built as a modern take on Miami. Similar campaigns have followed elsewhere. Miami Beach’s commission separately approved its own Rockstar billboard deal worth roughly $4M. Rockstar reportedly floated a “Vice City Airport” rebrand at Miami International that never moved forward.
The payment figure was reported by the Miami Herald; the mayor’s office has not detailed what further Rockstar agreements, if any, are being negotiated.
Published: Sep 23, 2026 06:42 pm