ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – The Miss America Pageant will once again leave Atlantic City and this time head to the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut.
According to WHYY, the move was expected due to the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority declining to renew subsidies for the pageant.
The pageant will be telecast live through NBC on Thursday, December 19th, breaking a long-standing tradition of broadcasting on a Sunday.
“Miss America is a storied organization that has a long history of empowering women, providing tremendous educational resources to women and serving the overall public good,” Ray Pineault, president and general manager of Mohegan Sun said in a statement. “Like the Miss America Organization, Mohegan Sun celebrates the successful and inspiring women within our company and the Mohegan Tribe. We’re thrilled to be hosting an impactful event like the Miss America Competition in December, and we look forward to working with both MAO & NBC on what will be a tremendous evening.”
“The Miss America Organization (MAO) is proud to partner with Mohegan Sun as we return to our longtime NBC home,” Regina Hopper, president, and CEO, Miss America Organization said. “We are looking forward to a fresh take on this historic competition that will showcase the incredible women vying for the job of Miss America 2020.”
The last few years have been turbulent for the organization. In 2018, previous Miss America board members resigned as a result of leaked e-mails that showed former Miss America CEO Sam Haskell and several others making derogatory comments about the appearance, intellect, and sex lives of former Miss Americas and contestants.
Former Fox News channel anchor and 1989 Miss America Gretchen Carlson was named Chairwomen of the MAO in 2018. Later in that year, MAO officials announced that the swimsuit competition would be dropped. Soon after, state pageant groups started to revolt against national leadership.
In June of this year, Carlson announced she was stepping down as Board Chair for the Miss America Organization but was staying as an advisor to the Board.
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