{"id":404104,"date":"2026-09-19T00:14:45","date_gmt":"2026-09-19T00:14:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/404104\/"},"modified":"2026-09-19T00:14:45","modified_gmt":"2026-09-19T00:14:45","slug":"miami-commissioners-debate-over-local-partnerships-with-grand-theft-auto-vi-wsvn-7news-miami-news-weather-sports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/404104\/","title":{"rendered":"Miami commissioners debate over local partnerships with Grand Theft Auto VI &#8211; WSVN 7News | Miami News, Weather, Sports"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">MIAMI BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) &#8211; Grand Theft Auto VI may be set in Miami-Dade County, but its cities are in dispute over whether to collaborate with the controversial game.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The long awaited GTA VI is releasing Nov. 19, and the widely popular game, set in fictional Miami, or \u201cVice City, is expected to make billions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While the crime-focused game could bring millions into the county, some believe embracing GTA with its violent theme could send the wrong message about the county.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In anticipation of the newest version, some local cities like Miami Beach are partnering with those behind the game to generate local revenue<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis actually won\u2019t affect our brand,\u201d said Monica Matteo-Salinas, Miami Beach Commissioner. \u201cThis is a win for gamers and gaming nerds, such as myself.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWon\u2019t affect our brand?\u201d Miami Beach Commissioner David Suarez responded in a video.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Suarez joined Miami-Dade Sheriff Rosie Cordero Stutz and other local leaders <a href=\"https:\/\/wsvn.com\/news\/local\/miami-dade\/miami-dade-commissioner-sheriff-oppose-reported-county-partnership-on-grand-theft-auto-vi-launch\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">against allowing GTA<\/a> to advertise on city property.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe\u2019ve been trying to move away from that spring break chaos,\u201d said Suarez. \u201cWe\u2019ve had <a href=\"https:\/\/wsvn.com\/news\/local\/miami-dade\/fit-for-fun-miami-beachs-2026-spring-break-campaign-shines-spotlight-on-fitness\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">marketing campaigns<\/a> that have come up to move away from that image.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Suarez argues that Miami Beach has spent years and millions of taxpayer dollars to change the city\u2019s image, only for commissioners to \u201cput Grand Theft Auto on the beach. You really can\u2019t make this stuff up.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Miami Beach commission held a vote on Sept. 10 on whether to allow GTA advertisements in city property, a deal valued around $3 million.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis money \u2014 millions and millions of millions of dollars is going directly to amenities for our residents,\u201d said Miami Beach Commissioner Joe Magazine.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The GTA marketing campaign was passed by Miami Beach commissioners in a 4-3 vote. One of those who voted in favor was Magazine. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe can walk and chew gum at the same time,\u201d said Magazine. \u201cThirty-five years ago, I fell in love with Miami Beach watching Don Johnson in Miami Vice. So we can be for public safety, but also lean into this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Officials like Suarez are still a part of the debate and say they don\u2019t like it. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYou can literally kill police officers, you can run over civilians,\u201d Suarez said of the game. \u201cI mean just the other week, we had gangs of bikers running over civilians on Ocean Drive\u2026 We\u2019re trying to move away from that image.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While Suarez says GTA has every right to promote their game, he questions why Miami Beach needs to help them advertise it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe other commissioners, decided that the beach is for sale now,\u201d Suarez said.<\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2026 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.<\/p>\n<p>\tJoin our Newsletter for the latest news right to your inbox<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MIAMI BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) &#8211; Grand Theft Auto VI may be set in Miami-Dade County, but its cities&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":404105,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[225,227,226],"class_list":["post-404104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-hialeah","tag-hialeah","tag-hialeah-headlines","tag-hialeah-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=404104"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404104\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/404105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=404104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=404104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=404104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}