Miami Beach Votes 4-3 to Put GTA 6 on Its Beach Chairs: 'We're Not Giving Away Pistols and Cocaine'

The real Miami Beach is about to become part of GTA 6's marketing, and it took a heated public meeting and a 4-3 vote to get there. On Thursday, September 10, the Miami Beach City Commission authorised its city manager to negotiate a deal that would put GTA 6 branding on the city's beach chairs and umbrellas through the launch window, for a reported $3 million to $4 million. Here is what the commission actually voted on, who said what, and what is still not settled.

What the commission actually voted on

The resolution directs and authorises the city manager to negotiate an agreement with Amplify Marketing Inc., Rockstar's hired marketing agency, for a campaign commencing October 15, 2026. The counterparty is the agency, not Rockstar or Take-Two directly.

The vote split 4-3. In favour: Tanya K. Bhatt, Laura Dominguez, Joseph Magazine and Monica Matteo-Salinas. Against: Mayor Steven Meiner, Alex Fernandez and David Suarez.

Two details matter. First, the resolution contains no dollar figure. The $3 million figure comes from PC Gamer and Beebom, while the Miami New Times puts it at up to $4 million, so treat it as a reported range. Second, no contract is signed. The resolution authorises the city manager to negotiate and, unusually, to execute the agreement without a further commission vote, a point Mayor Meiner raised at the meeting, noting that agreements normally come back to the commission.

Where the branding would go

The resolution allows signage "on concession equipment on the beachfront and on such other public property as the City Manager may determine," with an October 15 start and no end date written into the text. Commissioners described the campaign as running through the end of the year, with Beebom reporting an October 15 to December 31 window based on the meeting stream.

Commissioner Dominguez was specific about the footprint: the campaign "will be advertised discreetly with our partner, the Boucher Brothers... it'll be on their chairs and their umbrellas," and she said logos would not go on lifeguard chairs or iconic public places. Note that this exclusion was a commissioner's assurance rather than a term of the resolution, which leaves other public property to the city manager's discretion. The marks are described as "VI" and "Vice City" branding, per Beebom and GTABoom.

'We're not giving away pistols and cocaine'

The debate produced the lines that travelled. Commissioner Monica Matteo-Salinas dismissed the moral objection directly: "We're not giving away pistols and cocaine to people," and called the deal "a win for gamers and gaming nerds such as myself."

Commissioner Joseph Magazine made the inevitability argument: "GTA 6 is coming to the world regardless of what Miami Beach does... That spotlight's coming. The question remains whether we actually stand on the sidelines... or whether we actually take control and create an opportunity."

On the other side, Commissioner David Suarez played footage from both GTA V and the GTA 6 Extended Look during the meeting to make his case, narrating as he went: "A Miami Beach police car just rolled over, and here's another one, getting away with an AR-15 shooting as they're fleeing." He also argued that roughly half the money would go to the private concessionaire that operates the chairs.

Where the money would go

The resolution allocates nothing; what follows is stated intent. Commissioner Tanya K. Bhatt said the money would "pay for the Flamingo football field renovation project that is currently not funded, which is of vital importance to families all across the city." Kotaku reports others wanted it directed at parks and basketball courts, and PC Gamer describes Magazine listing projects the city has had to put off for lack of funding.

Miami Beach is not Miami-Dade

This is easy to muddle, because three different governments are now in the GTA 6 conversation. The City of Miami Beach is a separate municipality from the City of Miami and from Miami-Dade County. Separately, Miami-Dade County officials including the sheriff and the county's chief judge pushed back in early September on a proposed county-level tie-up involving bus stops, manhole covers and airport signage, which Mayor Daniella Levine Cava has said she is open to; no county agreement exists, per CBS Miami. Thursday's vote is the only one of these that has actually passed anything.

What happens next

The city manager now negotiates and can execute the agreement. If it is signed, branded chairs and umbrellas would appear from around October 15, five weeks before GTA 6 launches on November 19, 2026. Rockstar and Take-Two had not commented at the time of writing. Take-Two has said GTA 6's marketing will not look like GTA V's, as we covered in Strauss Zelnick's comments on the campaign, though nothing ties this deal to a stated Rockstar plan. For the fictional version of the beach in question, see our Vice City versus real Miami comparison.

The bottom line

Miami Beach's commission voted 4-3 to let its city manager negotiate and sign a GTA 6 beach-chair branding deal with Rockstar's marketing agency, reportedly worth $3 million to $4 million, starting October 15. No contract exists yet, the resolution names no figure, and the county-level plans people keep conflating with it have gone nowhere. The quotes, though, are already immortal.

Sources

• City of Miami Beach — adopted resolution (PDF via Miami New Times)
• Miami New Times — Miami Beach approves multi-million dollar GTA VI marketing agreement
• PC Gamer — "We're not giving away pistols and cocaine to people": Miami Beach votes in favor of GTA 6 collab
• Kotaku — Miami Beach debates taking millions from Rockstar to advertise GTA 6
• Beebom — GTA 6 marketing deal approved by Miami Beach despite heated debate
• CBS Miami — Miami-Dade Grand Theft Auto partnership pushback
• City of Miami Beach — City Commission meeting, September 10, 2026 (video)