Miami Wants Real-Life Vice City Sheriff Objects

Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava proposed a marketing collaboration with Rockstar Games in June that would transform parts of the county into a real-life version of Vice City, the fictional setting of the upcoming GTA VI. The plan, revealed by The Miamian, included using approved GTA VI characters or visual references across county-owned properties.

Airport and Port Transformations Planned

The proposal outlined changes to Miami International Airport, PortMiami, Metrorail stations, Tropical Park, and other public spaces. At the airport, officials proposed a display aircraft wrapped in Vice City logos, a GTA 6-inspired baggage claim area, customized carousels, column wraps, themed luggage carts, and limited-edition luggage tags. Arriving passengers would see “Welcome to Vice City” messages when disembarking.

At PortMiami, one idea referenced a dockyard visual installation inspired by GTA 6’s Port Gellhorn, encompassing cargo containers, cranes, and cruise ships. The plan also included Metromover cars wrapped in Vice City colors and logos, signage at key locations, and custom sewer or stormwater manhole covers.

Sheriff Calls the Plan Dangerous

Miami-Dade Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz has publicly opposed the collaboration. “Grand Theft Auto is a video game franchise built around criminal activity,” she said in a statement. “Its fictional world includes 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 single day to prevent.”

The sheriff’s comments were part of a news release issued by Miami-Dade Commissioner Juan Carlos Bermudez, a Republican considered a potential candidate to succeed Democrat Cava as mayor in 2028. The timing of the opposition coincides with competing funding proposals for the Sheriff’s Office in Miami-Dade’s 2027 budget.

Courts Also Want Excluded

The county’s judicial system separately asked to be left out of any promotional crossovers. Chief Judge Ariana Fajardo and Clerk Juan Fernandez-Barquin wrote to the mayor stating they do not believe courthouses should be incorporated into a campaign for a game whose themes include “criminal activity, violence, law enforcement pursuits and other fictionalized depictions of crime.”

The judicial letter did acknowledge that a deal could offer “significant” economic opportunities for Miami-Dade County. A Vice City Motor Fest event was among the proposals, described as combining classic cars, customized vehicles, lowriders, motorcycles, tropical graphics, and local entertainment within what the proposal called a “controlled, family-appropriate setting.”

The marketing deal has not been formally agreed to, and negotiations with Rockstar Games remain ongoing.