Miami, Florida’s Grand Theft Auto 6 takeover will reach a fever pitch the day before the game launches, downtown in the city the game is based on.
The NBA’s Miami Heat announced today that the team’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks will be taken over by Vice City theming, including a “special hardwood” court “built for Vice City” and “a new, completely reimagined uniform” for one night only. The game will be featured as a nationally televised broadcast on ESPN.
The basketball game takes place on Nov. 18 at 7pm ET, which is just five hours before the video game launches on the East coast for players on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, meaning that fans could theoretically attend the game and go home in time to play at midnight launch.
The Heat’s website says that the evening will also include “special activities starting on Opening Night inside Kaseya Center and unique game night activations,” so I’d expect some very special and limited giveaways among other merch opportunities.
Last week, a special Vice City billboard was spotted on the roof of the Miami Heat’s home stadium, Kaseya Center, which is located in downtown Miami. GTA 6’s Vice City is based off of Miami, so the partnership makes a lot of sense, and probably costs a hell of a lot of money.
Interestingly, the Heat already have a decidedly Vice City-style alternate jersey design inspired by the city’s neon night life:
I’m curious just how “Vice City” these special jerseys will get. Since it’s a one-time deal, I hope that they really go all out with the branding. In the GTA universe, Vice City has its own basketball team, the Vice City Narcos. The jerseys could approximate that sort of styling, especially since the announcement by the Heat says the game will be “Milwaukee vs. Vice City,” so I’m excited to see what they come up with.
