
Miami Heat will play Vice City from Grand Theft Auto VI for a single game, with new field and new uniforms
The NBA demonstrated on Friday the scale of the marketing budget for Grand Theft Auto VI.
The Miami Heat announced they would undergo a transformation called “A Night in Vice City” during their game against the Milwaukee Bucks on November 18, one day before the Rockstar Games-developed video game’s worldwide release on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.
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The Heat says the game will feature a special court “built for Vice City,” the reimagining of Miami featured in GTA 6, as well as a new uniform. Products from the collection are already on sale.
It’s hard to imagine a time when a team has promoted an entertainment product by fully adopting the identity of a fictional city for a game, but it’s also the sort of thing to be expected given the hype around GTA 6 in particular. Grand Theft Auto V was the highest-grossing media title of all time, and the trailer for its sequel garnered 296 million views as of Friday.
The Heat have also leaned on a similar identity before with their “Miami Vice”-style jerseys, which feature a neon pink color scheme similar to that of the classic 1980s crime series.
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This game happens to be new Heat star Giannis Antetokounmpo’s first game against the Bucks, his former home of 13 years. The Bucks traded the two-time MVP to the Heat alongside Bobby Portis in exchange for a package of players and draft picks featuring Tyler Herro.
With Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo leading the team, the Heat are one of many contenders in a crowded Eastern Conference. Their regular season begins on October 21 with a home game against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
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