Miss America Pageant Leaving Atlantic City For Mohegan Sun In Connecticut
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (CBS/AP) — There she is. Here she isn't. Miss America is leaving Atlantic City for the second time, trading one casino town for another.
We are so excited! The announcement is finally here!
— The Miss America Org (@MissAmerica) July 23, 2019
MEDIA ALERT: THE 2020 MISS AMERICA COMPETITION' TO AIR LIVE THURSDAY, DEC. 19 FROM MOHEGAN SUN | NBCUniversal Media Village https://t.co/TPBYaPxZSt via @AddThis
The Miss America Organization says this year's pageant will be held at the Mohegan Sun Connecticut in Uncasville, Connecticut.
"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," said Ray Pineault, president and general manager of Mohegan Sun. "Like the Miss America Organization, Mohegan Sun celebrates the successful and inspiring women within our company and the Mohegan Tribe."
It will be broadcast on NBC Dec. 19, in a switch from recent broadcaster ABC.
"The Miss America Organization is proud to partner with Mohegan Sun as we return to our longtime NBC home," said Regina Hopper, president and CEO of the Miss America Organization. "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 pageant began in Atlantic City in 1921 as a way to extend the summer tourism season beyond Labor Day weekend.
It became synonymous with the New Jersey seaside resort but moved to Las Vegas in 2005, returning to Atlantic City in 2013.
The pageant went through some big changes last year, the most attention-getting being the elimination of the swimsuit competition in favor of more in-depth contestant interviews.
It had been held at the historic Boardwalk Hall, and a parade in which contestants wore shoes with themes identified with their individual states had become part of the pageant's history.
For decades, the pageant was a part of Americana, and longtime master of ceremonies Bert Parks crooning, "There she is ... Miss America," became synonymous with the pageant.
Its latest departure from Atlantic City had been expected since the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority declined to renew subsidies for the pageant following last September's competition.
Over the past six years, the agency spent more than $20 million on subsidies for the pageant.
(© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)