Miami Beach votes 4-3 to negotiate a GTA VI beach campaign with Rockstar

Miami Beach's city commission voted 4-3 yesterday, September 10, to start negotiations with Rockstar Games over a Grand Theft Auto VI marketing campaign in the city. The vote only opens talks. No deal has been signed, the final fee is still open, and Rockstar has not commented.

Commissioner Laura Dominguez said Rockstar is currently expected to pay $3m, and that the city would try to get more. Commissioner Tanya Katzoff Bhatt said the total benefit to the city would be "closer to $4m", which she said would cover the renovation of the Flamingo football field. The city has no funding for that project right now.

The campaign itself would be fairly quiet for a series that rarely is. GTA VI would be advertised "discreetly" on Boucher Brothers beach chairs and umbrellas, using the Roman numerals VI or the words "Vice City" instead of the Grand Theft Auto name. It is scheduled to run from October 15 until the end of the year. It will not appear at Art Basel in early December, or on city property such as landmarks and lifeguard stands.

The debate before the vote was sharp. Commissioner David Suarez showed footage of GTA V and of the GTA VI extended preview on Netflix, and said he did not want the city's brand associated with the game: "I don't think it's worth any amount of money." He also pointed to the city's efforts to change its image, including what he called some of the toughest Spring Break restrictions it has ever had, and argued that Miami Beach can't "turn around and voluntarily promote the very image we're trying to leave behind."

Katzoff Bhatt took the practical view. "This is coming to Miami Beach with or without us, and to pretend that it isn't is a missed opportunity," she said. Commissioner Monica Matteo-Salinas, who said she is a fan of the series, was more direct: "It's a video game; it's fake." She called the deal "a win for gamers, and gaming nerds, such as myself."

The opposition also came from outside the commission. Miami-Dade County Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz said Grand Theft Auto is "a video game franchise built around criminal activity", and that officials should consider what message it sends when a government promotes a fictional identity built around many of those same crimes.

The full meeting is available on the City of Miami Beach's YouTube channel.

A second Miami deal may be in the works, though this one is unconfirmed. Freelance Miami journalist Francisco Alvarado reported that Basketball Properties, a Miami Heat affiliate, Miami-Dade County and Rockstar are close to an agreement to put a giant GTA VI sign on the roof of the Kaseya Center. None of the parties has confirmed this.

The next step is the negotiation between the city and Rockstar, which will settle the final fee. If talks succeed, the beach campaign starts on October 15.