Confirmed: the Vice City sign on the Kaseya Center is a $975,000 deal with Miami-Dade

What was a rumor with aerial photos over the weekend is now a confirmed deal with official figures. According to the Miami Herald, Miami-Dade County, which owns the Kaseya Center, signed a $975,000 contract with Rockstar Games to install the “Welcome to Vice City” sign on the roof of the Miami Heat’s arena. The letters were deployed by helicopter on Tuesday, September 22.

The campaign has not come without controversy. County commissioner Juan Carlos Bermudez criticized it during a marathon budget hearing: “It’s a game where police officers are killed. Pedestrians are run over. And we’re going to make money from a video game that glorifies it.” Bermudez wants the GTA marketing dollars to go to the sheriff’s office; Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, whose administration negotiated the deal, wants the proceeds to fund the long-stalled park on the Parcel B lot behind the arena.

And there is more: according to the Herald, the mayor’s office circulated a presentation with other potential stunts, including revamping a gate at Miami International Airport to welcome passengers “to Vice City” and deploying replica county manholes bearing a fictional Vice City municipal logo. The cities of Miami and Miami Beach have also signed marketing deals with Rockstar, though none as elaborate as the county’s.

The contract was signed on September 10, but the document only became public on Tuesday, following a request from the newspaper itself. It is the official confirmation of the installation we covered days ago in the sign over the Kaseya Center, and one more piece of the global campaign we covered in GTA VI’s marketing plan.